Richard W. Paul
October 1, 1930 - June 13, 1996

How Do You Say Goodbye to the Man Who Gave You Life?
1931>>>
 1936>>>
This is the best I could think of...top photo, Richard William Paul, 1931 as a baby. Born to Benjamin (1903-1951) and Mary Freda Paul (1901-1974) in Evansville, Indiana, his father was an upholsterer. Richard, like my mother Viola, was born during the Great Depression and had little in the way of money or things. But they had their family.
This is how Richard dressed and his fashion sense didn't improve much as he got older. He did stop wearing the little dresses after he married.
Left photo, 1936, left-to-right:Little brother Donald (born 1933), big brother Ben (1926-1993), Big Sister Marcella (1924-2009), Richard standing in front of her, and big brother Lawrence (1928-2001).
Right photo: Richard in first grade at the age of seven.
1938>>>
 1939?...with Mom and Dad>>>
On the left, Daddy with his Mom and Dad in what looks like 1939?
On the right... Daddy in 1944 after his first communion. He was a stubborn Catholic his entire life, and a slightly disturbed child. Shy...
1944 >>>
 1955>>>
Above, from shortly after meeting Viola Weiss, my mother, of Ft. Branch, Indiana on May 1, 1955 at Lamey's Grove.
Right photo: 1956, Viola and Richard. His father died suddenly in 1951 of a stroke at the age of 48. The next year Richard was drafted into the Korean War but to his luck the armistice was signed before he entered combat. He spent his army time in Hokaido, Japan, in Korea, and then returned home. He had a very serious illness in 1956 which lasted over a year but Viola stayed with him. She said he wasn't very shy...hmmm...they were married on May 5, 1962 and my mother got pregnant on their wedding night. Shy...yeah sure...shy but potent.
 1956 >>>

 1966>>>

 1953>>>
(above)1966...I'm the baby. Daddy worked at the local Post Office for over 30 years with brothers Lawrence (my favorite uncle) and Donald, retiring in 1990 after his first bout with colon cancer. He never smoked or drank alchohol, although this 1953 Army photo does raise some questions...hmmm...
Richard Paul, chicken eater, gets his birds confused>>>Daddy didn't like change and was so set in his ways he resented people trying new things. He dressed the same in 1996 as in 1955. He loved animals and traveling, two things my brother and I inherited. He believed in working harder, not smarter. Strange but true.
He had a keen sense of humor, although my brother and I were a little too silly for him. His skeptical view of life drove his humor and through my Air Force years I tried to convince him to look at life with optimism...vigor. I didn't want him to die before I retired from the Air Force and had a chance to connect with him. He rarely took my advice...it was hard to convince him to do anything new, especially if you were younger, and, in my case, a bit crazy. I sometimes think we were very much alike. He thought he wasn't smart, he thought he was a plain, unremarkable person and because of this and his deep humility, he rarely tried to improve.
Posing for a bust>>> I wanted him to see himself otherwise.When I saw him I saw my weaknesses and hoped, by my adventures in my adult life, he could look at me and see his strengths...what he instilled in me and what he had in himself. When I was impressed with me, I was impressed with him. He was remarkable.
Daddy liked older people for their wisdom. He wasn't openly emotional, rarely hugged, and the first I remember him saying he loved me was when I was three months shy of my 30th birthday, and he was dying.
He was real. There was no conceit in him. What you saw was what you got, although, sometimes you wished you could get something other than what you were looking at...hehehe. Although he may not have been there for us emotionally he always took care of us. He would have done anything for us. His family was his life.
 May 5, 1996...34th wedding anniversary >>> May 5, 1996

His body riddled with cancer and knowing he probably had a month to live, Richard celebrates his 34th wedding anniversary with Viola. At the age of 65 1/2 the years had been good to him. He was a handsome man even in this photo. He never changed...it was his downfall and his charm. To the end family was number one, and although we argued and fought like any family, it was fitting that he left this life surrounded by, and holding onto...his family.

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June 16, 1996


 Holding onto family>>>