Paul Charles Amenta

Paul C. Amenta, age 78 of Stoughton, passed away peacefully on June 24th after an all too brief courageous battle with lung cancer. Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts to the late Charlie and Elizabeth (Coughlin), Paul dedicated his life to family, friends, criticizing the Boston Red Sox, and his fulfilling career as a certified public accountant.

Paul is survived by his son Dominic Amenta and his wife Valerie of Lynnfield, sister Dottie Rich and her husband Bennet of Marblehead, and wife Yanick Amenta of Manchester, MA. He is also survived by his much-loved grandchildren Francesca and Roman Amenta, niece Diane Szycher (husband, Scott) and their son Jason of West Newbury, niece Donna Bertoldi (husband, Craig) and their son Ryan of Groveland.

Paul was a graduate of Salem High School in 1965 and graduated from Bently College in 1969. He grew up on Rice Street, spending his early years frequenting the Salem Willows and nearby baseball fields with his friends. Paul started his career in the accounting department at Hertz National Car Rental before leaving for a short stint in Los Angeles. He returned home and eventually took a job with dear friend, Elliot Savitz, for several years while also growing his own tax practice. One of Paul’s favorite clients and proudest accomplishments was working on Proposition 2 ½ with the Citizens for Limited Taxation. Several years later, Paul landed a position as Controller at Sharon Memorial Park in Canton, which he genuinely loved and enjoyed for over 25 years, while simultaneously working with his tax clients, often frustrating them with April 15th deadline reminders and exciting them with news of legitimate business expenses and write-offs they weren’t aware of before.

He was kind and generous, funny and matter-of-fact, logical and reasonable in his thinking and approach, and applied common sense to every facet of his life. Paul loved many things, including fantasy football; a special occasion dinner at Las Scala in Randolph; camping, the outdoors and his years in the Boy Scouts; his yellow Oldsmobile convertible, ‘The Old Lady;’ the Boston Herald Sports Section; family vacations at Disney World and Old Orchard Beach; attending baseball card shows with Dom, and years later selling baseball cards with Dom at those very same shows; lighting off fireworks; ‘the bar,’ which he had in lieu of a traditional dining room table along with the impressive beer can collection that hovered above it; everything that revolved around Christmas including shopping for the perfect gifts, visiting family and friends and hosting as well, and gaudy Christmas decorations; his 4+ year post-retirement sabbatical in Minnesota; and his overweight cat, Lucky, that patrolled the patio from nosy neighborhood cats and embodied the same ‘take shit from no one’ mantra as he had. Paul will be loved forever by his family, and sorely missed by his friends, former co-workers, his clients and Dom’s childhood and high school friends who had fond memories of him as well.

The Amenta family also extends heartfelt gratitude to his dear friend, George Simpson, whose selfless care and loyal friendship meant more than words can express during his final days, and would like to reiterate to him that he was, indeed, ‘just as good a friend to Paul, as Paul was to him.’

Visiting hours will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal Street in Salem, MA, followed by a graveside service at nearby St. Mary’s Cemetery, 226 North Street, shortly thereafter.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Paul’s memory to the Chron’s and Colitis Foundation.

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