Paul Warren Makosky

Paul Warren Makosky died peacefully under palliative care Monday morning March 25, at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center in Easton. His loving wife of 61 years, Linda Harap Makosky, and their three children, Antonia, Lucas, and Martha, were with him. Paul was born and grew up in Baltimore, where his father, Albert Ellsworth Makoski, had started working at Esso’s Baltimore refinery as a young man. Paul studied at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute before attending Cornell University. He followed in his father’s footsteps by graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1954. Paul met Linda when he was stationed in Germany as an Army officer assigned to a petroleum laboratory outside Munich. They married in White Plains, NY, in November of 1958. In 1960, Paul began working in Southeast Asia with the Far Eastern affiliate of Exxon and Mobil—Standard Vacuum Oil Company. He started out in petroleum refining before transitioning to ammonia urea manufacturing and sales. He became a specialist in the turnaround of troubled operations, accepting placements in refineries where he trained local staff. He would manage the refineries until he was no longer needed, moving on to the next placement. He found the work challenging, the places fascinating, and became lifelong friends with many of the people he and Linda met through living abroad. After a last year in Edmonton, Alberta, Paul and Linda retired to the Eastern Shore in 1987, building a house on the water outside of St. Michaels. They became members of Christ Church in St. Michaels, and Paul was a steadfast volunteer with Talbot Hospice services. While enjoying their home and the community, they also took the opportunity to continue to travel widely, visiting places they had missed during their working days. Paul also served as treasurer for the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival, which lead to joining the board of the Academy of the Arts in Easton to revive and expand their concert series. Ben Simons, Director, writes: “On behalf of the entire Museum, staff and trustees, we are deeply sorry to hear of the loss of Paul Makosky, Emeritus Trustee of the Academy Art Museum. Paul was a beloved member of the Museum community, and will be dearly missed. He was instrumental in founding the popular Music at Noon series in the 1990s, and worked tirelessly to promote the series and a wide range of concerts and programs at the Museum over many decades. We send our deepest condolences to Linda and the entire family.” Paul is survived by his wife, Linda, his three children, and his five grandchildren. He will be greatly missed. He had a broad range of interests, which included good food, wine, the arts, and music, traction lines and railroads, and an astonishing depth of knowledge in the history and culture of the places he lived, foreign and domestic. He could make friends and find topics of interest with anyone he met. The family would like to direct memorial contributions to support the Music at Noon Program at the Academy Art Museum, which Paul established and fostered during many decades of service to the Museum. http://tinyurl.com/y6bdwvjy

Paul Warren Makosky

May 3, 1931 - March 25, 2019