H. Paul Ehrlich

H. Paul Ehrlich, 79, of Grantville passed away Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at home.

Son of the late Dr. Harry and Irene (Burns) Ehrlich, Paul was born in Hawaii just in time to experience Pearl Harbor.  His mother woke up on Dec. 7, 1941 with a four-month old in a crib and a Japanese bomb through the roof of their cottage on Waikiki Beach.  They were evacuated in a convoy of Naval Officers shortly after the attack.  The family migrated home to Brooklyn, NY where Paul attended PS 102 and played a mean game of stick ball in the street.  In 1953 they moved to Napa, California, then a small farm town.  He was sent home on the first day of school to change after showing up in his NY City suit and tie.  He graduated from Napa High in 1959.

A cell biologist and researcher, Ehrlich was a Wound Healing Society founding member and its 2nd president.  He was awarded their Outstanding Achievement Award in 1995 and Life Achievement Award in 2010.  Ehrlich transformed the field of wound healing through his scientific discoveries.  According to his mentor, Dr. Thomas K Hunt, “H. Paul Ehrlich’s major contribution was to have broken the myth of the immutability of healing by accelerating wound healing.”  Ehrlich earned his BS from UC Berkeley, MS from SF State University and PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF.  A Post-Doctorate at U of Washington and British-American Heart Research Fellowship at the Strangeways Research Lab, Cambridge, England followed.

Ehrlich directed the Wound Healing Lab at Shriners Burn Institute Boston and held an Assistant Professorship of Pathology and Surgery at Harvard Medical School 1974 to 1992.  From 1993 to 2012 Ehrlich was Professor of Surgery and Neurosciences at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA.

Paul was the only boy with four younger sisters and spent much of his early life defending his turf.  His award winning started early with an Outstanding Achievement Industrial Arts Award from Ford Motor Co. for ceramic art 1956; followed by a cherished dance trophy from the Tom Brady School of Dance in Napa.  The guy could cut a rug.

A member of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church and the East Hanover Lions Club, he volunteered for Meals on Wheels for many years.  Paul had infectious enthusiasm for his work as a scientist and loved woodworking, fly fishing, farming and his family.

He is survived by his beloved wife Nancy A. (Atchison) Ehrlich; children Matthew, Gabrielle, Elizabeth, Hadyn, and Charles; granddaughter Olivia Scott and his four sisters and their spouses Anne O’Brien (Dave), Madeline Mount (Robert), Judith Ehrlich (Gil Scrine) and Dorothy Ehrlich (Gary Sowards).  He will also be sorely missed by Burns and Ehrlich cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews in the dozens.

A memorial mass will be held at Holy Name of Jesus Parish on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 11:00 AM preceded by a visitation from 10:00 to 11:00 AM.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Shriners Hospital for Children, 51 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114 or American Heart Association, 4250 Crums Mill Road, Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA 17112.

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