Born to Tillie A. and Alexander J. Sparrow in Brooklyn, N.Y. on November 4, 1932, four days before Franklin Roosevelt was elected President for the first time, Paula S. Roos, died on January 9, 2025 surrounded by family in her home in Honesdale. She lived a full and very happy life. Mrs. Roos greeted every day with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a sense of wonder and purpose. She was deeply committed to her family and friends and to her community. From establishing trees on Main Street, to opening her home to many young people, to working to make our society more equitable, she gave it everything she had.

After a childhood in Brooklyn, she competed for the title of Miss Sandlot Baseball at Ebbets Field and invented pedigrees for the dogs sold in her grandparents’ pet shop. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1948. She went on to study at the State University of New York at Cortland and in 1951 married William J. Roos in Honesdale, where, with Mr. Roos’s sister, Edna and brother-in-law Nathan Lewis, they ran Katz Brothers Department Store and raised their family. She is a past Trustee of Congregation Beth Israel and past president of a number of organizations including the Women’s Auxiliary of the Wayne County Memorial Hospital; the Honesdale Women’s Club; the Congregation Beth Israel Sisterhood, and the Wayne County Historical Society. Mrs. Roos was also active in a number of other organizations including Planned Parenthood, Wayne County Democrats; the Easter Seal Society, the American Cancer Society, the Pocono Girl Scout Council and WVIA. For over 40 years she taught downhill skiing at Tanglwood, PocoNorth and most recently at Elk Mountain. She was proud to have celebrated her 92nd birthday at a rally for Kamala Harris, where her friend Senator Casey wished her a happy birthday

Mrs. Roos is survived by her children all of whom are proud to have inherited her zest for life, dedication to improving the lives of others and protecting the Earth, and a belief that the entire world revolves around her beloved Honesdale: Liza Prior Lucy of New Hope, PA, Sigmund Roos of Concord, MA, and Joel Roos of San Francisco, by their spouses, Drew Lucy, Ruthie Rohde and Laurie Isenberg, by her grandchildren and their spouses, Alexandra Lucy (Nathaniel Costa), Elizabeth Lucy (Jonah Meyerson), Hannah Francini (Alyssa Francini), William Roos, Eleanor Roos, David Roos, and Emma Roos, and by her nieces Connie Rai, Alison Wylegala, Julia Lewis, Ruthie Lewis, Briana Black and nephews Stephen Lewis, Jonathan Stovall, John Stovall, William Stovall, and Daniel Sparrow. She was predeceased by her husband of 63 years, her brother, Joshua Sparrow, her niece Ellen Lewis Stovall, her son-in-law, George Prior, and her nephew Paul Sparrow.

A funeral service will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, Court Street, Honesdale, on Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM.

Please no flowers. Contributions in her honor may be made to Congregation Beth Israel, 615 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431 or to any organization committed to the many things she cared about.