Keith E. Paul |
Keith Edward Paul, the son of John and Thelma (Colburn) Paul, was born on September 17, 1933, on the Colburn family farm north of Sioux Rapids. Keith received his elementary education at the Cornell School in Cornell, Iowa. He and his brother, Wayne, spent their youth in the Sioux Rapids area until the family moved to Clarence, Iowa, in 1947. During his high school years in Clarence, Keith played the trombone in the high school band and he also enjoyed singing in the school choir and glee club. Following his graduation in 1951, Keith returned to Sioux Rapids and worked with his grandparents on the Colburn family farm. Keith entered the United States Army on November 4, 1953, in Omaha, Nebraska and faithfully served his country until his honorable discharge on November 3, 1955, in For Riley, Kansas. On March 16, 1958, Keith was united in marriage to Clarice Evelyn Fernau at the Methodist Church in Sioux Rapids, Iowa. This couple was blessed with two sons, Byron in 1964 and Drake in 1970. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Keith entered the Worsham Mortuary College and Evelyn was employed as a nurse. After receiving his Mortuary Degree, the couple moved to Collinsville, Illinois where Keith worked for the Schroepple Funeral Home. In 1966, they returned to Sioux Rapids and Keith was a funeral director for Sliefert Funeral Home in Sioux Rapids until his retirement in 1998. Keith was a member of the Sioux Rapids Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Team. He was an active member of the Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star organizations. Keith belonged to the United Methodist Church in Sioux Rapids and sang in the choir and enjoyed sharing his vocal talent by singing favored hymns as a soloist. Keith had many varied interests and some of those include; collecting antiques, coin collecting, golfing in his younger years and playing cards and pinochle with his family and friends. Those who are grateful for having shared his life include his sons, Byron Paul, and his son, Tyler of Rapid City, South Dakota and Drake Paul and his wife Katie of Fairfax, Virginia and their two children, Jonathan and Kylie; his sister-in-law, Kathryn Paul Utley of Clarence, Iowa; cousin, Ruby Cuthbert of Spencer, Iowa; other aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and many friends. Keith was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Wayne. Blessed be the memory of Keith Edward Paul.
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Keith E. Paul, age 75, of Hartley, Iowa, and formerly of Sioux Rapids, died on August 17, 2009, at Community Memorial Health Center in Harley.