Paul’s family was forced to flee due to the moving Russian front in 1945. They travelled 500 km by covered wagon to Gluckstadt, Germany. Paul’s parents were too old to immigrate to Canada, so he and his sister immigrated first, and then sponsored their parents. Paul had arranged to work 2 years on a farm in Middle Lake, Sask., but after meeting an old friend in the McDermot Avenue Baptist choir, which greeted his train in Winnipeg, he stayed and worked in a factory turning gloves. He met Marianne in the same choir, and proposed to her before leaving for a construction job in Kitimat, B.C., in 1953; she said no. They exchanged letters, and married in 1955. Paul told children’s stories and occasional sermons at Kitimat First Baptist. He loved hunting and fishing. Paul worked in job evaluation at Alcan, where he had a reputation for honesty. Paul and Marianne retired to Abbotsford, B.C., where Paul served Bakerview Church as peer counsellor and choir member. In 2012, he fell, possibly experiencing a stroke. He was relentlessly positive to the end, retelling how the Lord had blessed him.
