STAPLETON — The intersection of St. Pauls Avenue and Taxter Place was renamed Sunday in honor of longtime educator Addison Branch.
Branch, who died in 2012 aged 85, served in World War II and worked for more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator for the Department of Education, Councilwoman Debi Rose said.
"Addison was a longtime educator, mentor and neighbor to so many on the North Shore," Rose said in a statement after the intersection was renamed Addison Branch Way.
"I'm honored to memorialize the generous life and indelible memory."
Aside from teaching, Branch also was heavily involved in the historic preservation of Stapleton, was a member of the Local Development Corporation and was a founding member and president of the Mud Lane Society, Rose said.
Branch, who was born in Philadelphia and lived in Memphis before Staten Island, served in the army during World War II and was stationed in Fort Dixon, New Jersey, and Japan, Rose said.
He received a degree in mathematics from LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and a master’s degree in education from New York University.
“He was a great civic leader whose unwavering warmth and kindness inspired others to action,” Rose said.
“While society, time and the world may have changed over the years, his friendships remained as strong as ever for decades.”
