Rie, Paul Alexander

Paul Alexander Rie was born September 8, 1897, to Paul Rie and Bella Strouse in New York City. He was educated in Paris and England, and then returned to the United States (U.S.) to work in the family importing business.  He returned to France when he entered the American Field Service (AFS), a volunteer ambulance corps serving with the French Army in World War I.  He drove an ambulance in AFS Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 19 from April 1917 to September 1917.  After the U.S. entered the war, AFS was absorbed by the U.S. Army and ceased to exist as an independent entity.  Rie then enlisted in the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (USAAS), where he attained the rank of Sergeant 1^st Class, as a member of USAAS SSU 637 from September 1917 to February 1919. In June 1918, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with a silver star for bravery under fire during the war.  He also received the American Field Service medal.

He remained connected with AFS after the war, serving as head of the West Chester Pennsylvania chapter of the American Field Service International Scholarships program, which was established in 1947.  He continued in the family business until 1953 while also, for a time, operating a dairy farm in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania.  He married Grace Alexandra Young, and with her helped found the Chester County Mental Health Clinic, where he served as chairman of the board.  In 1969 he became the first chairman of the Chester County Housing Authority, on which board he also served into the 1980s.  Rie and his wife had two sons, Daniel and Thomas, and a daughter, Suzanne.

Paul Alexander Rie passed away in December 1991.

[Bio courtesy of AFS Archives, New York]