The UPrep community mourns the loss of Paul Fleming, the former theater teacher and fine arts department chair who dedicated 42 years to working at the school. He passed away on March 3. Head of School Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau announced his passing in an email the same day.
Fleming began teaching at UPrep in 1981 and retired in the spring of 2023.
Dance teacher Jess Klein worked with Fleming on 15 musicals and credits him with much of the department’s success.
“We probably wouldn’t have a fine arts department like we see it now without him,” Klein said.
Joel Meyers (‘17) believes one of Fleming’s best qualities was his openness.
“His office door was always open,” Meyers said. “Many people will say that when they enter that door of the building, the first thing they do is poke their head in, and he was always there.”
As the first openly gay teacher at UPrep, he was a founding member of Cake, which later became the Gay Straight Alliance and eventually the Queer Student Union. Former QSU advisor, Ciara McGrath reflects on the impact he had in that setting.
“He just spoke about all of the struggles that he had gone through as an individual, as a human in society,” McGrath said. “But then what it meant to him, being a teacher at UPrep and not being out, and then what it meant to him coming out.”
His openness and kindness were some of his most recognizable traits, according to Klein.
“Mr. Fleming was sort of like a warm hug to anybody, especially those who might feel like outsiders due to their sexuality, due to being from a different place, due to their ideas not being the norm or majority,” Klein said. “He was always this very welcoming presence who understood what that could feel like, and through his empathy and kindness, made a space for everybody.”
That same openness shaped how Fleming thought about the role of the arts at UPrep.
“He really understood the idea that not all of the students at UPrep are going to become artists. Not every student we teach is really looking to become a musical theater performer, be a dancer, be a musician,” Klein said. “But through our classes and experiences, the professional-level experiences we give kids, we teach students about the tenacity, discipline, expression involved in putting things into the world through art, and we create lifelong lovers of the arts, or people who respect the arts and understand just how much it takes to be an artist.”
Outside of UPrep, he was known for his involvement in starting Seattle Children’s Theater, according to Klein. Jack DiGiuseppe (‘25) recalls watching him perform during UPrep’s production of “Mamma Mia!” in 2022.
“We got to see him act for those three or four lines. He commanded the stage,” DiGiuseppe said. “You could tell how much love he had for theater and how much love he had for his students.”