Paul Bianchi
1945 - 2025
Paul Frederic Bianchi, 79, of Atlanta, Georgia passed away peacefully at home on May 10, 2025. Paul was the beloved husband of Barbara Dunbar, his wife of 57 years. Together, they had three daughters and eight grandchildren. Paul was also the founding head of Paideia School, which he led from 1971 to 2023, and where he continued to teach.
Paul was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, the second son of Helen (Raffaelly) and Paul C. Bianchi. At age five, Paul contracted polio and spent time in and out of Boston hospitals. There he charmed nurses, looked out on the Citgo sign looming over Fenway Park, and was visited by his beloved Boston Celtics. Perhaps because he was stuck at home for most of kindergarten and again in 8th grade, Paul loved to be in the center of a crowd. In high school, he was unable to play sports but stayed in the middle of the action – or rather ran the game - by managing the team or running the pep rally. He was the student body president at Framingham High School and started a talent show, with teacher Bob Jachowicz who became a lifelong friend and a surrogate grandparent to his children. Senior year, his college counselor suggested that because of his disability, Paul should apply to trade school. He told her he would rather try Harvard. He enrolled that fall.
As an undergraduate, Paul met Barbara Dunbar, a student at Smith College. They married in 1967. They both shared a passion for education and a curiosity for the world beyond Boston. When they told friends they were moving South, everyone thought they meant Rhode Island. Instead, they went to Atlanta to teach at Galloway, a new progressive school. A year later, a group of parents decided to start another school across town and offered to make 25-year-old Paul the head of the school. It seemed like an impressive offer, but as he said: “Let the record reflect that I was selected from a list on which there were no other candidates to head up a school that had no buildings, no faculty, no students and no money.”
Paul always said that good schools are not about buildings or philosophical statements – they are built around great teachers and bright and interesting people who like children and enjoy learning. He helped build Paideia into one of the leading progressive schools in the country filled with what he called “a cast of contagious characters.” His signature event – high school graduation – was filled with personalized vignettes of each student - their talents, eccentricities, things they had said, and things they wish they had not said. It was exhaustively edited over many months, a carefully thought-out valentine to close out each student’s final year.
Paul and Barbara had three daughters, Melissa, Sarah, and Emily, all of whom grew up at Paideia. He was a ‘girl dad’ decades ahead of its time. He made lunches, attempted ponytails, and was a devoted Paideia sports fan, particularly when his daughters were on the field. When their youngest daughter, Emily, went to college, Paul and Barbara never really adjusted to the empty nest. They missed the cadence and chaos of a full house. As Paul liked to say, “I don’t mind being alone, as long as I have someone to talk to.” He filled the void by mentoring and nurturing even more students and faculty, many of whom became lifelong friends.
Paul and Barbara had eight grandchildren, Elena, Julia and Sam Pastreich, Eva and Josh Vinik, and Lexi, James, and Anna Markham. He loved being a grandparent. He was a devoted letter writer, sending homesick grandchildren daily letters at camp. He also spent hours teaching them his favorite craft: writing. He reminded them, as he reminded everyone, “Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously."
Paul loved a good joke, prank, or entertaining story. He reminded us that humor grounds us. It teaches us we don’t have to be perfect and that we ought to have some fun along the way. He and Barbara believed there is only one real measure of success: Did we do right by our children? Paul devoted his life to doing right by children. Barbara, his brother Peter (Kathy), his children, Melissa (Manny Pastreich), Sarah (Grant Vinik), Emily (Jon Markham), grandchildren, generations of students, parents, teachers, staff and so many more in the Paideia community will miss him terribly.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Paideia School Financial Aid Program.
A service was held on Friday, May 16 at Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center. A replay of the service can be accessed here.