Paul M. Mitchell | Longtime dentist, 91

Paul Michael Mitchell, 91, a dentist in Trenton for 50 years and a dedicated supporter of the University of Pennsylvania's sprint football team, died Wednesday at the Chandler Hall Nursing Home in Newtown, Pa.

Born in Hungary, Dr. Mitchell played violin for the Trenton Symphony Orchestra while a high school student before going to Penn.

He played lightweight football, now known as sprint football, while an undergraduate and became the team's captain.

During World War II he served in the Army, receiving the Bronze Star in the Burma-Chinese Theater, and joined the Marines during the Korean War. He also served in the Navy Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander.

Dr. Mitchell earned his dentistry degree from the University of Maryland in 1950 and did his specialty training in prosthodontics at Penn.

In his later years he regularly attended Penn sprint football games. In an interview with The Inquirer in 1994, Dr. Mitchell said he returned for the memories.

"Well, what memories do you have? Who goes back to his physics lab or his chemistry lab? You go back to the things you did," he said.

Dr. Mitchell is survived by daughters Eileen Brackup of Newtown, Mary Weber of Seattle, and Lillian Gates of Birmingham, Ala., and three grandchildren.

Office of Christian Burial is scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Assumption of the Virgin Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, Grand and Malone Streets, Trenton. His family will receive friends from 8:30 to 9 a.m. at Kutch Funeral Home, 215 Grand St., Trenton.