Paul L Lautzenhiser

With an unparalleled zest for life, Paul Louis Lautzenhiser of Raymore, MO, formerly of Crete, NE, was known for his spirit to chase after planes, trains and automobiles his entire life. After a hard-fought battle with a short diagnosis of lung disease, our family’s patriarch left this Earth on December, 7, 2021.

It was a chilly day on December 30, 1940, when Elmore and Myra-Faye (McOmber) Lautzenhiser made the trek from their farm in Dorchester, Nebraska to her mother’s home, Lydia McOmber, in Crete, Nebraska where the doctor was awaiting to deliver their first born son, Paul Louis.

Paul spent his early years, and some of his fondest memories, growing up on his parent’s farm outside of Dorchster. His farm life ingrained a love of collecting toy farm machinery, and creating detailed model airplanes that his parent’s proudly displayed in their home for years. Paul talked often of riding his tricycle the non-traditional way around the farm, standing up on the trike’s back-deck, scooting around the farm yard as fast as he legs could push him. His first taste for speed!

Paul raced through high school, graduating from Dorchester High School in 1958. He was an excellent athlete in basketball and track. Friends still remember Paul’s darndest basketball shot: thrusting the ball nearly up to the ceiling and SWISH!

Less than a year later, Paul appealed his appetite for speed with his first car: a 1955 Ford! Shortly thereafter, he purchased his well-known “Blue Lightning” drag racing car: a 1959 Chevrolet. Janis said it was a, “Hot, hot car! Everyone knew Blue Lightning!” In fact, it became so well known, officers with the Crete Police Department often heard about the teens racing in the evenings on Highway 33. Knowing his son’s antics, Elmore would smile when officers would mention to him the next day to tell his son to “cool it”!

It was full speed ahead when Paul met the love of his life in November 1962: a Doane College sorority coed, Janis (Merryman) Lautzenhiser. A quick courtship led to an engagement two months later, and a grand wedding on June 30, 1963. The pair hustled into parenting with two children: Mark and Karla. They put it in neutral for 12 years, until the arrival of their youngest: Ryan.

A tenacious worker, Paul performed for nearly 25 years for SafeWay supermarket in Crete. He started as a grocery clerk, then quickly promoted to assistant store manager for 9 years. He eventually earned *Manager of the Year* for the Omaha-Division, one of his proudest career accomplishments.

After the abrupt sale of SafeWay in 1982, Paul walked across the street to hire on as the night manager of Jack-and-Jill supermarket in Crete. He put his back into everything he did, quite literally, which forced him to leave the retail store operation in 1988.

Needing a pain-free place to give his time during his back injury, Janis roped Paul into volunteering daily in her First Grade classroom at Crete Elementary School. Whether it was logging reading minutes, reciting math facts or just connecting with kids, Paul happily served in the classroom.

He, himself, went back to the classroom in 1991, to obtain his Associates in Business Management from Southeast Community College in Lincoln, NE. His new degree, and his new back, afforded him positions in management at Carol Wright in Lincoln, and Home Decorators in Mexico, MO. He readily retired in 2005, settling with Janis in Raymore, MO.

Paul wanted his family to experience, and see, things that most people don’t. He would buckle in his oldest toddler son in a car seat, and drag race outside of the Crete city limits for the thrill. Or strap his young daughter into an airplane seat, and fly over Saline County, Nebraska for her amusement. Or jump into the family Blazer with his youngest son to chase alongside Burlington Northern trains outside of Crete.

Paul was particularly proud of his lifelong pilot’s license, spending his parenting years in Crete flying private small engine planes across Saline County. He joyfully served on the Crete Airport Authority Board, along with being a member of the Crete Chamber of Commerce and Crete Sertoma International. He was a long-time member of the Crete First Congregational Church, and Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Lee’s Summit, MO.

Above all, Paul loved family. He adored watching his own children participate in sports, volunteering as announcer for Crete High School basketball games. Any chance he and Janis had to travel to Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Nebraska or locally in Raymore to visit their grandchildren, they’d support and cheer them on in volleyball, basketball, soccer, cross country, cheer or theater. Traveling to the mountains or the beach with family would bring Paul the greatest contentment. His family is so grateful he and Janis made the trek to Sanibel Island, Florida with his children and grandchildren in June 2021.

His cheerful spirit is carried on by his adorable wife of 58-years, Janis of Raymore, MO; his children, Mark (Lisa) Lautzenhsier of Milford, NE; Karla Brinkman (Todd Reckling) of Provo, UT; Ryan (Katy) Lautzenhiser of Raymore, MO; seven grandchildren, Halie (Taylor) Bryant of Senoia, GA, Andrew Brinkman of Carlsbad, CA, Erin Brinkman of Spanish Fork, UT, Jackson and Landon Lautzenhiser of Milford, NE, and Skylar and Aurora Lautzenhiser of Raymore, MO.; along with many nieces, nephews, and more friends than he could count.

Paul is reunited with his warmhearted parents, Elmore and Myra-Faye Lautzenhiser, along with his doting three younger sisters, Karen and Neva Lautzenhiser, and Lona Hardin.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate making a gift in memory of Paul to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation website, to support lung health research: PulmonaryFibrosis.org (888-733-6741).