Dr. Paul A. Hargrave

Dr. Paul A. Hargrave died February 10 at his home from pancreatic cancer. He was 86. Paul was born in Clifton Springs, New York, to Ethel and Edward Hargrave. He grew up in Palmyra and graduated as valedictorian at Palmyra Macedon Central School in 1956. While in high school he was already deeply interested in science. When he participated in a summer program at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, he brought some of the lab mice home as pets, to his mother’s dismay. He graduated magna cum laude in chemistry from Colgate University, where he sang in the Glee Club and played trumpet in the marching band. After a year of graduate work at the University of Michigan, in 1961 Paul decided to apply for a new Kennedy Administration program called Teachers for East Africa. Under that program, he left graduate school and traveled to Kampala, Uganda, where he earned a Diploma in Education at Makerere University. He then taught junior college chemistry, physics, and mathematics for 3 years at Kamusinga, a Quaker school in Western Kenya. Before returning to the U.S., Paul traveled by motorcycle through Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. In 1965, Paul shipped his motorcycle to the US and entered a graduate program at the University of Illinois, where he would receive an MS. Doris Dayton was an undergraduate working in the same biochemistry lab. They married at the Unitarian church in Urbana, Illinois, in 1967. Paul followed his graduate advisor to the University of Minnesota, where he received a PhD in biochemistry in 1970. He went on to do postdoctoral studies at Caltech in Pasadena, California, then landed a job at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 1973. It was at SIU that, in 1983, Paul and colleagues in his laboratory published the full amino acid sequence for rhodopsin, a photoreceptor protein that enables us to see in low light. The physical structure of rhodopsin was more complicated than many proteins, and the lab came up with several novel processes to help solve the puzzle of its structure. Much of their early work had to be done in darkroom conditions, because the protein physically changes when exposed to light. Paul’s work was described as a monumental step toward understanding the physiological function of rhodopsin in vision, which has important implications for treating visual diseases. At the end of 1984, Paul and family moved to Gainesville so he could take a position as the Jules and Doris Stein Research to Prevent Blindness Professor at the University of Florida. Over the next 21 years, Paul was principal investigator on at least 70 NIH grants, totaling millions of dollars of research funding. In 1990, he was named the Francis N. Bullard Professor and Eminent Scholar of Ophthalmology and Biochemistry, and in 2000 he received the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s Friedenwald Award for outstanding research. Paul traveled nationally and internationally for his work, collaborating on research, giving seminars, and organizing professional meetings. Outside his research, Paul was an avid runner, biker, and hiker. He ran 89 marathons, completing at least one in each of the 50 states and several in foreign countries. With Bike America, he once biked the length of the Mississippi River. He also ran and rode in countless local races. He was participating in the Depot Park 5K Parkrun events as recently as last summer – often winning his age group by being the only entrant in it. He was active in the Florida Track Club as secretary for four years and president for another four years. Paul’s travels spanned all continents and led to many adventures, among them being shooed out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during unrest in the 1960s and being stuck with Doris in Egypt during the Arab Spring of 2011. He visited numerous human-built wonders of the world including the Great Wall of China, Petra, Easter Island, and Machu Picchu; and natural wonders including Iguazú Falls, the Galapagos, and the Great Barrier Reef -- many of these alongside his beloved hiking and travel companion, Doris. Paul supported many progressive causes and served as the Program Director of the Florida Free Speech Forum for many years until resigning due to his illness this past fall. He was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville (UUFG) for over 40 years, where he was most recently known as founder of the Book Cart and leader of the Books Salon. Paul is survived by his wife Doris; daughter Elizabeth (Matt Cohen), of Silver Spring, Maryland; son David (Genesis), of Helena, Montana; and grandson, Jameson, also of Helena, Montana. We will miss him terribly but carry on his love of science, travel, the outdoors, books, and social justice. Our many thanks to his doctors at North Florida Regional and to Haven Hospice. A memorial service will be held 11am Saturday, February 15 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville. Donations in his honor can be made to Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery or the UUFG Foundation.

Dr. Paul A. Hargrave

February 10, 2025