Paul Louis Blawie, Sr

Distinguished Attorney

Paul Louis Blawie, Sr, 87, of Woodbridge, died May 15. Mr Blawie was born in New York City, September 15, 1921, to Louis Paul and Ruth Grish Blawie. He was predeceased by the love of his life, the late Marian Blawie.

He is survived by 12 children, including John and Karen Blawie of Newtown. He was also the proud and beloved “Paca” of 27 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

He attended Washington College in Maryland on a basketball scholarship, but World War II interrupted his studies. He was discharged after four years of active service as a first lieutenant in the Army, serving as an instructor at the Fort Benning Infantry School. While there, he first played organized football, which resulted in a football scholarship at the University of Georgia at war’s end. Both a gifted scholar and athlete, Mr Blawie was a member of Georgia’s 1946 Sugar Bowl Championship team, and the recipient of the Most Distinguished Graduate Award. He was awarded a scholarship to Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1951.

Mr Blawie practiced law in Bridgeport for more than 40 years. He was a founding partner of the firm now known as Cohen & Wolf. In 1957, he established the law firm of Blawie & Belinkie, where he practiced until retiring in the 1990s. Early in his career, Mr Blawie was elected president of a group now known as the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association. He was appointed an attorney trial referee for the Superior Court in 1984. From 1988 to 1989, he was a member of the Statewide Grievance Committee. He authored several published law review articles, served as a lecturer at the University of Bridgeport, and as a visiting professor of law at the University of Georgia Law School.

He was active in civic affairs in Fairfield County, serving in leadership positions at various times over the years as president, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Fairfield County Chapter; chairman, Medical-Legal Committee, Connecticut Bar Association; chairman, Bench and Bar Committee, Bridgeport Bar Association; commander, American Legion Post in Stratford; Grand Knight, Park City Council, Knights of Columbus; president, Western Connecticut Phi Beta Kappa Association; president, Cursillo Movement of Fairfield County; president and chairman, United Cerebral Palsy Association of Fairfield County. He was a longtime member of the Algonquin Club.

Mr Blawie was ordained a permanent deacon, serving at St Gabriel’s Parish in Milford. In 1984, he was asked by the bishop to be the homilist at the Red Mass, the Diocese of Bridgeport’s annual Mass for all members of the legal profession.

In 1986, Mr Blawie and his basketball teammates were honored by induction into the Washington College Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 1988, he was inducted into the University of Georgia Football Hall of Fame for his later life achievements. He remained active by swimming, walking, and playing tennis into his eighties.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held May 19. Interment was in St Mary Cemetery, Milford.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Marian Curley Blawie Nursing Scholarship Fund/Bridgeport Hospital Foundation, 267 Grant Street, Bridgeport CT 06610, or the Catholic Charities Thomas Merton House, 42 Madison Avenue, Bridgeport CT 06604.

The Newtown Bee        May 22, 2009