Former PJC Board of Regents President Passes Away
Published or Revised July 03, 2013
Paul Gene Roden, pictured in front of the Paris Junior College Administration Building in 2012. Mr. Roden served 24 years on the PJC Board of Regents, with 10 of those as President of the board. He passed away June 24, 2013.
Former Paris Junior College Board of Regents President Paul Gene Roden passed away on June 24 and his funeral service was held on June 30. PJC President Dr. Pamela Anglin was one of the eulogists at the service.
“Paul Gene Roden loved God, he loved his family and he loved Paris Junior College,” said Dr. Anglin. “He loved PJC athletics, especially basketball, and he and Anita were usually in the bleachers. He was very proud of the work we did developing Facility Master Plans for the three campuses and was proud that we were able to deal with deferred maintenance on the Paris campus and construct new buildings here.
“He chaired the board during a time of unprecedented growth at PJC. He wanted to see PJC do well and gave his all to the board and to the good of PJC. Faculty and staff recognized his dedication to his role as chair and to his responsibility as a board member.”
Born in 1938, Roden was the third generation of a family of funeral home directors. He graduated from Paris High School, attended Paris Junior College, and earned his BBA in accounting from Southern Methodist University in 1960. He graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in 1961 in the top 10 percent of his class.
Following in his father’s footsteps, he was actively involved in Gene Roden’s Sons Funeral Home until 1977 and served as company officer of Lamar Assurance Company 1956-2006. In 1965, he and other funeral directors incorporated the Northeast United Life Insurance Company. He served in several executive roles until retirement.
Elected to the Paris Junior College Board of Regents in 1988, he was vice president in 1992 and president from 2001 until May 2012. He was involved with CASA for Kids and the Girl Scout Council, a member of the Rotary Club of Paris and Paul Harris Fellow, a director and tutor in the Literacy Council and volunteered with the Downtown Food Pantry. He served on the Ark-Tex Council of Governments from 1999-2012 and was a director and board chair of the Workforce Solutions of Northeast Texas between 2005-2008. In November 2012 he was inducted into the PJC Academic Hall of Honor.
He leaves wife Anita, four children, six grandchildren and an adoptive grandson.
The family has requested that gifts in his memory be made to the PJC Memorial Endowment, Paul Gene Roden Scholarship Fund, 2400 Clarksville Street, Paris, TX 75460.
