Saratoga Springs — Paul Hermann Schrade was born December 17, 1924, in Saratoga Springs to William and Florence Schrade. He died peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on November 9. He was 97 years old.
Paul moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940’s and started work at North American Aircraft company He became an activist in the United Auto Workers and soon won election as president of his local union. In the mid-1950’s, Paul moved to Detroit as assistant to UAW President, Walter Reuther. In 1962 he became Western Regional Director of the UAW.
A confidant of then Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Paul was one of five people shot on the night of the Senator’s assassination following Kennedy’s 1968 California Democratic Presidential primary victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Paul was seriously wounded but survived.
Dedicating himself to the social justice ideals and the memory of RFK, Paul was a central part of a decade-long campaign to build a school honoring Kennedy on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel. The Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex, serving 4,000 students, opened on the site in 2010.The School Library is named in Paul’s honor.
Paul is survived by his sister Louise (Weezie) Schrade Stone Duff, a resident of Audubon, PA. Several nieces and nephews survive as well.
A service of remembrance for Paul will take place in the Spring at the Greenridge Cemetery in Saratoga Springs.
