Max Paul, 87, died on June 13 at the Chapel Hill Rehabilitation Center.

He was born January 10, 1920, on the Lower East Side of New York City to immigrant parents. After graduating from high school, Max worked odd jobs during the Depression until enlisting in the U. S. Merchant Marine, serving in the Mediterranean during World War II.

Active in socialist-Zionist youth movements, he spent several years on Kibbutz Hazor in Palestine in the late 1940s and marched in Israel’s Independence Day parade. Returning to America, he enrolled at the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina where he was active in theater, labor, and social-justice movements. After a career in sales, he retired to Chapel Hill and resided at the Covenant House, Carrboro. Max found a second home at Weaver Street Market where his outgoing, engaging personality earned him a wide circle of friends. Among the many friends who will miss Max are George and Rosemary Hoag, who took responsibility for him in his later years.

Funeral arrangements were made by Howerton-Bryan. Graveside services were led by Rabbi Morton Green at the Chapel Hill Kehillah Cemetery at Markham Memorial Gardens on June 14. Max’s friends are planning a commemoration of his life to be held at a date to be announced.