Paul Christopher; directed Massachusetts American Cancer Society chapter

“When I came aboard, surgery was the chief form of cancer therapy,’’ he told the Globe in 1987 when he retired as the chapter’s executive director. “In 1954, we had one radiation therapist, doing a major amount of work in Boston, and people thought he was crazy in the head. As things turned out, he developed the first curative for some forms of leukemia in children.’’

The landscape shifted similarly for the society’s Bay State division during his tenure. The organization expanded and moved its offices twice. Meanwhile, Mr. Christopher helped develop programs that served as national models, such as the event that became the Great American Smokeout and fellowships that encouraged promising medical students to pursue cancer research.

Mr. Christopher, who also was a Democratic Party ward chairman for many years, died June 14 in the Wingate at Haverhill nursing facility of complications from dementia. He was 83 and had lived for more than 50 years in the village of Bradford in Haverhill.

“Paul was one of a kind: Fiercely committed to the political process, a strongly committed liberal, great to me, and one of my early, early supporters in Haverhill,’’ said former governor Michael S. Dukakis. “I mean, he was one of these guys that just didn’t talk about politics, he did it. But he was tough and if he thought you were straying from the right path, he didn’t hesitate to let you know it. But you know, he was one of those guys without whom the political system would be nothing. And for people like me, needless to say, the kind of person who makes it possible for you to serve in public office.’’

Through his work with the American Cancer Society, Mr. Christopher made a similar impression.

“Within the American Cancer Society, Paul was a legendary individual, one of those old school strong-willed, strong-minded, outspoken people,’’ said Donald Gudaitis, chief executive officer of what is now the New England division of the American Cancer Society. “He spoke truth to power more so than any individual I’ve known in my life, and I say that without fear of hyperbole.’’

Hard to miss in a crowd, Mr. Christopher favored bowties, which he sometimes wore with a dress shirt, sport jacket, and jeans, long before Fridays had become a casual day. If circumstances dictated, he pulled on clothes that were easier to spot in an auditorium.

“When he had cancer society events where he was the go-to guy, he would always wear something a little loud,’’ said his daughter Megan of Natick. “He would say, ‘Well, you know, you have to give them something to see - go to the guy with red pants.’ ’’

As the American Cancer Society evolved into a significant force for fund-raising, researchers found themselves going to Mr. Christopher and his organization more frequently.

In 1992, the society presented him with its St. George Medal for his contributions, including the establishment of a committee that drew members from all medical schools in Massachusetts and awarded seed grants for cancer research.

The nomination for the medal also cited his efforts setting up research fellowships, helping create screening programs for different kinds of cancer, and being a mentor to staff members who later held leadership positions in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

More than 40 years ago, he also persuaded Cardinal Richard J. Cushing to ensure that all nuns in the Archdiocese of Boston were instructed in breast cancer self-examination to set an example for women throughout Greater Boston.

“He is irreplaceable,’’ Robert Gadberry, who was then the executive vice president of the American Cancer Society nationally, told the Globe in 1987 when Mr. Christopher retired after 33 years with the organization. “Paul Christopher is going to be sorely missed, not only by the Massachusetts division, but by all of the American Cancer Society. He has truly been a leader and an innovator.’’

Born in Rochester, N.Y., Mr. Christopher was a child when he moved with his mother to Boston after his parents divorced. Growing up near the border with Brookline in the home of his maternal grandparents, he explored neighborhoods, fed the swans with his grandfather, and went to the circus with his grandmother.

“Often in our finding our way around traffic jams he would follow streets he had found riding his bicycle,’’ said his wife, Alice.

Mr. Christopher was 17 when he left high school to join the Army Air Corps, which stationed him along the California coast during the end of World War II. Afterward, he graduated from the Tilton School in Tilton, N.H., as an older student and met Alice Richards through mutual friends.

They married in 1948, a few months after she graduated from Wellesley College, and lived in veterans’ student housing in Waterville, Maine, while he attended Colby College.

He studied political science and history, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1951.

During his years at Colby, Mr. Christopher spent summers as a construction worker, helping build dormitories and classrooms.

Exhibiting organizational skills he would bring to future jobs, he helped lead a union effort among laborers that drew the ire of college officials.

From Colby he went to Wales on a fellowship, then returned to Boston and worked at a couple of jobs before joining the small staff of the state’s American Cancer Society chapter.

Beginning in an office upstairs from a store on Boylston Street, Mr. Christopher “guided the division through several regional milestones in the areas of cancer prevention and early detection,’’ according to the organization’s nomination for the St. George Medal.

In 1956 he moved to Bradford, where he later served on the Haverhill Housing Authority and was a member of the Jackson Club in town.

He also was a Democratic Party activist and ardently supported - win or lose - candidates on the local, state, and national levels.

“One of the things I have behind me on the kitchen wall is a board with buttons of candidates who should have won,’’ his wife said with a chuckle.

Said Dukakis: “He was just one of those great citizen Democrats. He took it seriously, he worked hard, and he made sure that those of us he supported knew he was out there watching us.’’

Whether distributing campaign material or finding innovative ways to raise awareness about cancer prevention and funds for research, Mr. Christopher kept sight of goals that went beyond any individual acclaim that came his way, his daughter said.

“He was not a religious guy at all, but he gave all of us the really strong sense that we weren’t here just for ourselves, we were here to do something of value,’’ his daughter said. “He had a lot of chances to work in the private sector for a lot more money, but he felt like if he had some native talent, some intelligence, some executive ability, then it was there for a reason. He wouldn’t call it a calling, and would never use this word, but service was what it was all about.’’

In addition to his wife and his daughter Megan, Mr. Christopher leaves two sons, Richard of Willits, Calif., and Paul of Billings, Mont.; and another daughter, Abigail of Portland. Ore.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Wellesley Friends Meeting in Wellesley.