John Mathias Paul

John Mathias Paul, beloved husband, incredible father and adored grandfather, left this world peacefully at age 89 on June 15, 2015. John was born July 1, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois to Austrian immigrant parents Mathias and Caroline Paul. He spent his youth and young adult years in a wonderful neighborhood on the south side of Chicago where he lived with his parents and older brother Joe. The same apartment building was home to aunts, uncles, and cousins; the scene of many happy times and late night card games!

At twelve, John was a telegraph delivery boy. He once delivered a telegram for President Franklin D. Roosevelt while the President was visiting Chicago. School was easy for John, he was an A student who graduated a year early from Mount Carmel High School, Chicago. Immediately after graduation, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force. The Air Corps put John through two years of college and trained him as a navigator for the B17 bomber. Thankfully for John and all that know him, a World War II victory in Europe was imminent and he and his crew were never deployed to Europe.

After his honorable discharge, John enrolled at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier to complete a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. John continued his schooling after marriage and eventually earned a master’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology. John’s love for engineering led him to Argonne National Laboratories in 1957. At an early point in his career, he was a teacher at Argonne’s School of Nuclear Energy where he would sometimes teach the nuclear reactor dynamics equation to college professors. John retired from ANL in 1985.

John met the love of his life, Mary Callan of Lisle, Illinois, in 1946 while working his way through college. He saw her at the drinking fountain at work and was immediately "smitten". They married four years later in 1950. John and Mary moved to Downers Grove, Illinois in 1956 where they raised their three children and spent forty-one wonderful years with nearby family and lifelong friends. In 1997, John and Mary moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to be closer to their grandchildren in Colorado Springs and California. In Colorado, they built many new wonderful friendships, something that came naturally to John and Mary. John and Mary were truly in love for their fifty-seven years of marriage until Mary passed away in 2008.

John was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend. He was a lover of golf, sports coach, amateur photographer, Ham Radio operator, electronics and computer hobbyist, wine maker, avid reader and library visitor, crossword puzzle solver, Jeopardy! wizard, carpenter, mechanic and problem solver. He was happy to see you in nearly any circumstance. Always humble, he would never say that he made a difference in many people’s lives, but for those lucky enough to know him, it is clear that he did. His family and friends will remember him as a kind and caring man with a positive attitude and warm smile for everyone. He will be long remembered and will be dearly missed.

John is survived by: son John Paul (Susan) of Palo Alto, CA; son Steve Paul (Gretchen) of Longmont CO; daughter Karen Walton (Tom) of Colorado Springs, CO; six grandchildren Stephanie, Lisa (Matt), Ryan, Steven, Emily, and John Michael.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to your local library.