- Date Of Birth: March 15, 1953
- Date Of Death: November 2, 2012
- State: Texas
Paula Jordan, March 15, 1953 – November 2, 2012.
Paula Jordan Paula Gasparello Jordan passed away on November 2, 2012. She had lived in Belton, Texas for the past 15 years. Paula was born in Hingham, Massachusetts on March 15, 1953, and was the eldest daughter of Ralph Gasparello and Joan Circola Gasparello. She graduated from Milton Academy preparatory school in 1971 and then attended Cornell University, graduating in 1975. At Cornell University she majored in Asian Studies and Chinese Art History. Prior to attending Cornell, she was a foreign exchange student and lived in Phitsanulok, Thailand.
After graduating from Cornell, Paula worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York, which was followed by 7 years of working at Sotheby Parke Bernett, New York. She worked at Sotheby’s as a Chinese art and antique specialist and was very instrumental in establishing the worldwide auction market for Chinese paintings, starting in New York and then in Hong Kong. In 1983, she moved to Hong Kong to become a full time resident and co-owner of Pearl River Publications, Ltd., a printing and publishing company specializing in fine art, antique and historical books and catalogues. Paula authored the book, Chinese Art at Auction in 1987. She lived in Hong Kong 13 years where she also continued to consult collectors in the fields of Chinese antiques and painting. She traveled extensively throughout China and Southeast Asia.
Paula married Alan Scott Jordan in Hong Kong and gave birth to identical twin sons. Her sons were born in Hong Kong in November of 1993. She moved with her family to Belton, Texas in 1996 to be close to her husband’s aging parents. In Texas, Paula worked for 5 years as a Latin teacher and theatrical director at St. Mary’s Catholic School, Temple, Texas. She was gifted in languages and excelled in Latin while attending Milton Academy. She became a Texas state certified Latin teacher by exam, while also obtaining state teaching certifications in history and English. She taught Latin at Harker Heights High School for 5 years before she developed cervical cancer in September of 2011.
Paula is survived by her husband, Alan Scott Jordan, a retired architect and currently a teacher in the Killeen ISD, and her twin sons Charles Austin Jordan and Fredrick Dallas Jordan, who are now freshman at Cornell University. Her sons recently graduated from Belton High School as National AP Scholars and as Valedictorian and Salutatorian. She is also survived by her father, Ralph Gasparello, a Cornell graduate who resides in Hingham, MA., her sister, Linda Gasparello-King, of Rhode Island, her sister Lisa Holt, of Newburyport, MA., her sister Nina Moore, of San Francisco, CA., and her brother, Ralph Gasparello, Jr., of New York, NY. Paula had a great love of education, languages, culture, music, travel, cooking, and interacting with people.
She especially enjoyed teaching and sharing her life and thoughts with her students and family. Paula was a wonderful and gifted woman, wife, and mother. She always reminded her students – Non scholae sed vitae discimus, and through her untiring and relentless work, she taught us daily – Non est ad astra mollis e terris via. She will always be loved and missed.
