Carmela “Cam” Casale Paradis, 92, of North Haven, Connecticut passed away peacefully on April 24, 2023, her deceased son Gregory’s birthday.

Cam was born to Michael and Mary Walsh Casale in Portland, Maine, the place she always considered to be her true home. After graduating from Portland High School in 1948, she went on to Gorham State Teachers’ College to study elementary education. Following graduation, she and three classmates moved to Connecticut where she began her teaching career, which would span 59 years, in the North Haven Public Schools. She later earned a master’s degree in special education from SCSU and a sixth-year degree in administration from Fairfield University.

In 1952 Cam married her beloved husband, George A. Paradis, and they enjoyed a wonderful marriage until his passing in 2011. They were blessed with three children, Beth, Michael, and Greg, who were great sources of pride and joy.

Mrs. Paradis, as she was fondly known in North Haven to hundreds of students and their parents, holds the distinction of having taught longer than anyone else in the state of Connecticut. Upon her retirement in 2011, in appreciation for her incredible lifetime of service to the children and families of North Haven, the Paradis Playground at Clintonville Elementary School was dedicated in her honor and a scholarship in her name was established by the Clintonville faculty.

Cam was predeceased by her parents, her husband, two of her sisters, Barbara O’Hara and Mary Lou Barron, her beloved son, Gregory G. Paradis, and her son-in-law, James W. Griffin. She is survived by her daughter Elizbeth P. Griffin and son Michael G. Paradis, six grandchildren: Eamon (Colleen) Griffin, Kiernan (Lauren) Griffin, Cameron (Benjamin) Porter, Blake (David) Weissman, Spencer Paradis, and Austin Paradis, and one great granddaughter: Eleanor “Nell” Griffin. She is also survived by her sister, Delores Kelley, many nieces and nephews, and dear friends.

Family and friends are invited to go directly to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish at St. Barnabas Church, 44 Washington Avenue, North Haven on Thursday morning, April 27 at 10:00 to attend a Mass of Christian Burial and are also invited to attend the committal service immediately following in All Saints Cemetery. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Carmela Paradis Scholarship, North Haven Board of Education, 5 Linsley Street, North Haven, CT 06473.