Posted: January 28, 2010

Captain Paul O. Janson, U.S. merchant marine veteran and longtime member of the union that became AMO: 1921-2010


Captain Paul Otto Janson, a longtime member of the union now known as American Maritime Officers, died at a hospice in Brooksville, Fla., on January 11. He was 88.

A native of Newark, N.J., and a U.S. merchant marine veteran of World War II, Janson served for many years as a deck instructor at the union’s training centers in Toledo, Brooklyn and Dania Beach.

While on the training staff in Toledo in the 1970s, Janson volunteered to assist in organizing drives, and he walked picket lines in several Great Lakes ports during strikes in 1977 and 1980.

Janson retired after helping to launch the AMO Safety and Education Plan’s Simulation, Training, Assessment and Research Center in Dania Beach, Fla.

“I met Paul Janson when I was a young AMO member who came ashore to serve as a union representative,” AMO National President Tom Bethel. “We became friends quickly. Paul was that kind of guy — easy to get along with and easy to like.

“Paul was also dedicated completely to our union, and he found his greatest professional satisfaction in helping young men and women earn original or raise-of-grade licenses as deck officers sailing deep-sea and on the Great Lakes. We mourn his passing, and we offer sincere condolences to his family and friends.”

Paul Otto Janson is survived by his wife of 62 years, Lucille Janson, and by his sister, Doris Gega, his brother, Richard Janson, and his daughter, Kathleen Habdas. He was predeceased by his son, Frederick P. Janson.

Interment will be held at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Condolences can be sent to the family at www.marionnelsonfunderalhome.com.