Paul Gellers

Just before midnight on Thursday, March 27th, 2025, Paul Gellers passed away at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, after a long illness. He was 75 years old and had been living in St. Augustine, Florida, since 2019.

Paul was born on May 20, 1949 in New York City, the son of Charles and Elsie (Glasser) Gellers and brother of Don Gellers (later known as Tuvia Ben Shmuel Yosef). He grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, attending the Henley School before earning a BA in General Arts and Sciences from Pennsylvania State University in 1971 and an MEd in Counselor Education, also from Penn State, in 1972. During his Penn State years, Paul and the men who became his lifelong friends established a drug crisis response team on campus. The program, O.D., was supported by grants from the Pennsylvania’s Governor’s office and inspired him to pursue a career in mental health.

Paul moved to South Florida with his parents in early August 1973. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the woman who would become his wife, Gayle Spinell, was on the road simultaneously, migrating from New York to Florida with her own parents. Paul and Gayle’s paths formally crossed in 1975, when Gayle called Henderson seeking emergency care for a female probationer who was in dire need and Paul took the call. Paul had jury duty the following week and they met for lunch at Moe’s by the courthouse, sandwiches that changed the course of their lives. Throughout their years together, the couple prevailed through legal challenges, health concerns, and relocations, always united in matters large and small. They were a committed, and sometimes defiant, team until the very end.

From March 1974 to September 2019 he worked as a therapist and later as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Addiction Professional for Henderson Behavioral Health. Throughout his career Paul also served as an adjunct professor at Broward College, where he taught a course on dual diagnosis. Over the 45 years in which he provided mental health services for the community in South Florida, he saved countless lives and helped people suffering from addiction and mental illness.

Paul was an avid traveler, science fiction enthusiast, and proud Penn State alum. Travels to Alaska, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Texas, the Caribbean, California, and Canada with family and friends were moments Paul embraced. He loved hosting Thanksgiving dinner and the annual coveted New Year’s Eve lobster fest, as well as pizza parties and BBQs. He loved Star Trek, Peking duck, popsicles, his blue Ford Mustang convertible, and NYC, as well as checking out all the sites and restaurants of his new hometown of St. Augustine. Most of all, he loved his family and friends.

Paul is survived by his wife of 47 years, Gayle Spinell-Gellers, sons Joshua Gellers and Brett Gellers, daughters-in-law Allison Armstrong (Joshua) and Jessica Rosas Gellers (Brett), and granddaughters Lillian Faye Gellers (Joshua and Allison) and Jacqueline Elsie Gellers (Brett and Jessica).

Services honoring Paul’s life will be held at 11am on Monday, March 31st at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Chapel and Cemetery, located at 4801 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207, where he will be laid to rest.

For those who wish to honor Paul’s memory with a donation, please contribute to the charity of your choice.