The Berkshire arts community mourns the loss of Paul Houston; ‘It was a treasure’ | New

PITTSFIELD – When the time came, every holiday season, to give a full account of this villainous Mr. Grinch, the naturally shy man with the deep and booming voice, Paul Houston, has never failed to deliver.

Houston, a trained actuary, history buff, old-fashioned handyman and promoter of the evening and weekend arts, was killed from injuries sustained when the car he was driving hit a tree in Malta, NY, June 20 He was 59 years old.

“It was a treasure,” said Laura Rosenthal, who first met Houston in 2009, when he moved from Michigan to Pittsfield to take a job with Berkshire Life Insurance Co.

Rosenthal, a fellow actuary, was responsible for “dragging” Houston to a cabaret workshop at Berkshire Music School. His initial reluctance quickly eased, as evidenced by his willingness to wear a beanie and perform “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!”

“There’s nothing bad to say about Paul Houston other than he’s not here anymore,” said Sherri James Buxton, of Lee, who runs the cabaret workshop.

Houston, born in Detroit on June 13, 1962 and raised in the nearby Rochester Hills suburb, loved music and sports. As a boy playing hockey, he once broke a femur – and it was almost worth it. After all, the great Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings has signed his casting, recalled Joyce Ifkovits, a sister from Houston, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Houston played the baritone and the trombone.

“He was a great musician,” his sister said.

The Michigan State University graduate will remain an avid Spartan sports enthusiast throughout his life, taking the good with the bad.

After moving to the Berkshires in 2009, he eventually volunteered at Hancock Shaker Village, where he performed songs for visitors. He became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Berkshire Music School. He was treasurer of the Berkshire Art Association. He gave generously of his time and money, friends and colleagues said.

“It’s a huge loss. He was a generous, warm and loving person, ”said Mary Rentz, former president of the Berkshire Arts Association, who first met Houston at a private viewing. “He often bought parts from our fraternal show. He gave incredible validation to the students. He was the kind of man he was.

“He was always smiling when he spoke to you,” said Anna Gershenson, a neighbor from Houston at the Clock Tower in Pittsfield. “It was so endearing.”

“Paul was single and the arts community was like his local family,” said Edward Bride of Pittsfield in a letter to the Eagle. “Many of us feel like we have lost a member of our family.”

Houston, never married and childless, has visited most, if not all, of the United States’ national parks, her sister said. He would go back to some of the parks if he felt he had missed something the first time around.

He was traveling to Old Sturbridge Village to learn skills such as historic cooking over an open fire. He would visit Mystic, Connecticut, to study whaling and learn sea songs. Somewhere along the way he learned to make tin pots.

Last fall, he attended a nephew’s wedding while wearing leather shoes he had made by hand. His nephews and niece called him “Maverick” from the movie “Top Gun”. They adored him.

His parents, Roy and Alice, said their son was particularly interested in the War of Independence.

“He could teach that period of history without notes,” said Roy Houston, who lives with his wife in Myrtle Beach, SC. “It was amazing that he seemed to know something in every general subject.”

“Almost every weekend he would go out and do something,” Rosenthal said.

Friends recall the cabaret class boosting his self-confidence and bringing out his playful personality. He would eventually learn “every song ever written about Michigan,” Rosenthal recalls with a laugh, including “I Want to Go Back to Michigan” by Irving Berlin. And, yes, for the annual holiday performances at assisted living facilities and other venues, he would dig deeper to deliver “You’re a Villain, Mr. Grinch.”

The morning of his death, he was returning from a basket weaving workshop in Saratoga Springs, NY, his sister said.

Authorities said Houston was driving south on Interstate 87 on June 20, around 5:53 am, when his 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee “drifted off the east shoulder” and struck a tree in the middle. Houston was later pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center. Houston was the sole occupant of the Jeep. The accident is still under investigation.

Friends and colleagues of the Berkshires are planning a memorial service. The date and place have not yet been fixed.

“There are so many people who feel the need to express their grief together and celebrate their life,” Buxton said.

A private funeral will be held this month in Charleston, South Carolina, yet another place whose history has fascinated Houston.