Paul Crall's Obituary
The story of Paul Crall is indeed interesting and one that includes many of the things that make our country so great. He was born November 27, 1918, two weeks after the end of World War I, in the small town of Decaturville, Missouri with a population of about 60. His father owned three flour mills and the family (father, mother, two brothers and Paul) lived in town. Unfortunately, his father died when Paul was only seven years old. His mother remarried and her husband was a farmer who had nine boys and five girls, several were grown and had moved away from home, but Paul now had 11 brothers and five sisters! He remembers farm life well and the hours spent doing all the things farm life requires including time spent following a mule behind a plow and the discomfort suffered when he wasn’t quite fast enough to get out of the way of that mule’s quick kick or bite! He graduated from high school in Linn Creek, Missouri in 1935 then graduated from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas with a degree. in Engineering. He married in 1938 and he and Helen had two daughters. He worked at Panhandle A&M College in Goodwell, Oklahoma as an instructor, and from 1941-43 worked for the Corps of Engineers in Denver, Colorado where they designed and built facilities in four states. In 1943, during World War II, he volunteered for the Navy and served in New York, Boston, Corpus Christie, Texas and Alameda, California where his assignments were primarily in electronics. He was discharged from the Navy in 1946 and worked for the Veteran’s Administration in Denver, Colorado and in 1948 for the new VA Hospital in Big Springs, Texas then to the VA Hospital in McKinney, Texas. The year 1954 brought him to Dallas where he worked for the next 13 years at the Dallas County Hospital (Parkland) as Director of Engineering, Housekeeping and Security. His next assignment was to the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio as Director of Engineering and Construction until he retired in 1982. He and his wife Helen wanted to travel and to see the United States and that is exactly what they did in their travel trailers and motor homes (five in all). They went to every one of the continental states being gone five to seven weeks per trip. His engineering training came in very handy when it became necessary to do the mechanical work to “keep their wheels moving!” They came to Signature Pointe in 2008 and Helen died in 2009. Their daughter, Betsy, a retired registered nurse, lives in Dallas and their daughter, Judy, an artist, lives in Sierra Vista, Arizona where Paul visits about two months each year. He had three grandchildren; Whitney Satterfield, Heather Simmons, and David Satterfield; six great grandchildren and one great great grandson. Paul has been a model to his family in his sweet spirit and serving attitude. He read his Bible daily, even when sick or visiting away from home. His whole life was spent serving God and his fellow man. In later years, he liked to read a lot and said his main interest was just sitting in the “Great Room” watching people! He was a very young looking 97 year old gentleman who maneuvered about without cane or walker and still had…. all of his hair! He had been to a lot of places, seen and done a lot of things but is still somewhat proud to say “I’ve even been kicked by a mule!!” He accepted Christ at an early age by way of an itenerate Methodist circuit preacher. The Lord called him home when he was 97 on May 25, 2016. Graveside service will take place at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at Restland Memorial Park, Garden of Ascension. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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