Paul M. Raynault, a Canadian-born entrepreneur and philanthropist who was the force behind the establishment of Englewood's charter school, died Monday. He was 67.
The cause was complications from surgery, said his wife, Shelley.
Mr. Raynault, who was chairman of Computer Leasing Inc. for a quarter-century, had eclectic involvements. He was a trustee of Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood, an executive committee member of Englewood Community Chest and a board member of the grass-roots organization U.S. Term Limits.
He even had an executive role with a Toronto-based company that sells women's fashions at home parties.
But in Englewood, his home for 35 years, he was best known for launching the Englewood on the Palisades Charter School.
"Paul was always passionate about education and providing the best education for all kids," his wife said.
"He saw a need for parents to have a choice where to send their children to school, and it was a big struggle."
The charter school, which opened in 1998 at the First United Methodist Church, endured fierce legal challenges from the city and school district officials, who feared that it would siphon off the best students.
"Originally, we got into this because we were concerned with education," Mr. Raynault said in 1998. "Fighting city hall and spending all this time in court was totally beyond our expectations."
The school, now housed at the former St. Cecilia High School on Demarest Avenue, has 190 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Mr. Raynault was its only board president.
"I admired Paul's dedication and commitment to education," said the charter school's director, Anthony Barckett. "That was paramount to everything he did. And he was a very optimistic man — never anything negative with him."
Paul Raynault was born in Montreal and graduated from McGill University there. After receiving a master's degree in statistics and game theory from Princeton, he began his career at IBM. He founded Computer Leasing in 1972 and ran the Hackensack company until 1996.
Five years ago Mr. Raynault founded the Student World Assembly, a non-partisan youth forum that promotes global democracy. The family-run Raynault Foundation, which sponsored formation of the Englewood on the Palisades Charter School, provided seed money for the Student World Assembly, which has members from 1,400 schools in 150 countries.
"Paul was a Renaissance man and a gentleman of the first order," Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes said.
"He will be sorely missed by Englewood, the charter school and thousands of children who, but for his extraordinary citizenship and philanthropy, have much to be grateful."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Raynault is survived by sons David of Longwood, Fla., and Mark of Arlington, Va.; daughters Lynn Raynault of Manhattan and Lauren Raynault and Morgan Raynault of Englewood, and a brother, George Raynault of Caledon, Ontario.
The memorial service will be Friday at 2 p.m. at Central Unitarian Church in Paramus. Volk Leber Funeral Home in Teaneck is handling arrangements.
Memorial donations can be made to the Student World Assembly at studentworldassembly.org or 214 North Woodland St., Englewood, NJ 07631.