Paul J. Laskow, champion rower, protector of the Schuylkill, attorney, and corporate executive, has died at 73

Paul J. Laskow, 73, of Philadelphia, a champion rower in high school, college, and beyond; former chair of the Schuylkill Navy River Restoration Committee; attorney; and retired chief legal officer and corporate secretary of AAA Club Partners, died Friday, June 24, of cardiac shock at Penn Presbyterian Hospital.

Mr. Laskow suffered a heart attack early Tuesday, June 21, while rowing with a friend on the Schuylkill. Others at the scene saw the emergency and helped the friend move Mr. Laskow to the bank.

A bit too small to compete with the older boys in other sports, Mr. Laskow took to rowing when he was 13 and spent much of the next six decades on the water. He was a 1965 national high school champion with the La Salle College High School varsity eight and a 1970 Dad Vail Regatta varsity eight champion while on a rowing scholarship at St. Joseph’s College, now St. Joseph’s University.

He joined the University Barge Club at No. 7 Boathouse Row in the 1970s, rowed every morning for weeks at a time, and collected more medals from age-categorized Masters events. On Saturday, June 18, less than a week before his death, Mr. Laskow won the Masters four with coxswain race and was second in the Masters eights at the Schuylkill Navy Regatta.

“That guy could not sit still,” said his wife, Margaret Meigs. “His superpower was direct action. If something had to be done, he did it.”

As longtime chair of the Schuylkill Navy River Restoration Committee, Mr. Laskow was instrumental in having the Schuylkill finally scheduled for dredging after 23 years of silt accumulation. Beginning in 2013, the project required prodigious fund-raising efforts and delicate negotiations among city, state, federal, and private entities.

In recognition of its success, the committee won the 2019 Clayton Chapman Award from the U.S. Rowing Association for having “consistently served behind the scenes in unrecognized but important roles,” and the dredging is scheduled to begin this month.

“It’s beautiful,” Mr. Laskow told The Inquirer in 2018, referring to the Schuylkill. “You see the geese floating along, and it all looks fine if you’re here picnicking. You wouldn’t know there’s a problem [about dredging] at all.”

» READ MORE: Dredge the Schuylkill, or risk the lights on Boathouse Row going dark | Paul Laskow

Off the water, Mr. Laskow joined American Automobile Association Mid-Atlantic in 1996 as general counsel of its insurance subsidiaries. Over the next 25 years, he rose to senior vice president and general counsel of AAA Mid-Atlantic and then secretary and general counsel of AAA Club Partners. He retired in 2021.

Born March 5, 1949, in Philadelphia, Mr. Laskow grew up in Warwick Township, near Doylestown, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Joseph’s in 1970. He joined the Air Force after college and served stateside after declaring as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.

He graduated from Dickinson School of Law, now part of Pennsylvania State University, in 1973, and began his career as a public defender in Doylestown. He earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning at the London School of Economics in 1976 and went on to work for the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia, Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and several insurance companies.

“Paul was a truly standup human being,” a friend said in a tribute. “Friends have many stories of his integrity and sense of justice.”

He married Phiania Smith, and they later divorced. He met Meigs in Philadelphia in 1980, and they were married in 1983. They had daughter Sarah, son Nick, and daughter Nellie and lived in Washington Square West, Fairmount, Chestnut Hill, and Queen Village.

» READ MORE: It is difficult to visit the home of Margaret Meigs and Paul Laskow without recognizing their passion for the Schuylkill and sharing their concern for the river's future.

Mr. Laskow was an active member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia on Arch Street. He wrote editorials in The Inquirer about dredging, rowing, and product liability laws, and was featured in a 2000 article about community gardens and in 2016 about his redecorated condo in Queen Village.

He served on boards at Germantown Friends School, the Stapeley senior living community in Germantown, the Fair Hill Burial Ground in North Philadelphia, the Arch Street Friends Meeting House Preservation Trust, and the Right Angle Club.

At home, he braided the hair of his daughters so it would look just right for school, whipped up intricate birthday dinners, and designed “the most epic sandcastles.” He “instilled in me such a positive attitude about family,” said his daughter Sarah Sheridan.

He was a good listener, rarely giving advice but usually moving the conversation toward a conclusion, said his daughter Nellie. “He listened in a way that made you think,” she said.

His son, Nick, said: “Our dad very expressly and emphatically loved his family, his friends, and mankind.”

In addition to his wife, children, and former wife, Mr. Laskow is survived by five grandchildren, two brothers, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

A memorial service was held Wednesday, July 13.

Donations in his name may be made to Philadelphia City Rowing, 450 Plymouth Rd., Suite 305, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 19462, and St. James School, 3217 West Clearfield St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19132.