Memorial Service
Prelude
Invocation
Holy and Eternal,
We awaken to the sun’s glory of light praising you in the
morning.
You are the blue dome above and the limitless sky beyond.
You are the warmth that embraces Mother Earth,
the rain that quenches her thirst,
giving renewal of life to all her children.
You are the brightness of sunlit leaves,
the congregation of great rocks,
strength giving,
among which we stand steadfast.
You are the stillness in the mountains,
the corresponding stillness in us,
deeper than all stirrings of self.
You are the mesa and cliffs
where birds dart down and sing.
You are the wings, the singer and the song
You are the listening world.
Your signature is the beauty of things.
Welcome
Welcome. We are here today to celebrate the life of Paul Rodger Errington, because,
even though we sit in the presence of great loss,
and are saddened by what we face,
we are nevertheless assured that there is a Spirit alive in the world over which death has no dominion,
a light which no darkness can extinguish.
Paul was an embodiment of that light.
We gather now
to listen; to grieve; and to reflect on Paul’s life.
Most of all we are here to pay tribute to his spirit,
and to give thanks for all the gifts of life
which because of him we have been the recipients.
We gather, also, in the hope that in the time of his death
he might strengthen our hold on life.
Prayer
Please join me now in prayer.
Spirit of light and love,
we are surrounded on every side by a multitude of wonders.
No corner of this great earth which is our home
is without its own special miracles of sight and sound.
There is a goodness in the world
in all its varied manifestations and disguises:
it is visible in the daily witness of nature’s unfailing order and providence;
and in the mysterious depths of our own being
- in the call of the heart’s adventure,
in those countless affirmations when our openness to life
confirms the very meaning of life in happiness and joy.
Yet, the essence of life’s meanings
remains a great and powerful mystery to us;
what we do not know,
we are driven to find out;
what we do not understand
we are inspired to search for and comprehend.
And so, we come to this place in thanksgiving and gratitude
to sing our praise of life in all its complexities,
in all its uncertainties;
and to confirm those things which he whom we honor,
honored with his mind, his heart, and his spirit.
Amen.
Music – “El Condor Pasa”
Readings
“Instructions” by Arnold Compton
When I have moved beyond you in the adventure of life,
gather in some pleasant place
and there remember me
with spoken words, old and new.
Let a tear fall if you will,
but let a smile come quickly
for I have loved the laughter of life.
Do not linger too long with your solemnities,
go eat and drink and talk
and when you can--
follow a woodland trail
climb a high mountain
chew the thoughts of some book which
challenges your soul
use your hands some bright day
to make a thing of beauty
or to lift someone's heavy load.
Though you mention not my name
though no thought of me crosses your mind--
I shall be with you
for these have been realities of life to me.
And though you mention not my name,
when you face some crisis with anguish--
when you choose your paths of right
when you give yourself in love
I shall be very close to you
I have followed the valleys,
I have climbed the heights of life.
“Readings from Earth and Beyond”
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." – Jean Luc Picard (Star Trek)
“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.” – The Doctor, Season 7, Episode 4
"Live long and prosper." – Spock (Star Trek)
Music – “Over the Rainbow”
Remembrances
David Ober
Charles Houck
Frank Eikenberry
Music – “Thank You for the Music”
Eulogy
Paul Rodger Errington was born in Whipple, West Virginia, on November 3rd, 1937 to Ann and Bill Errington. Paul ended up being the middle child, between older sister Peggy, and younger sister Elsie Ann. Whipple was coal country, and while many in the community worked in the coal mines, Paul’s father was fortunate to work at the company store. The family moved to Scarbro, West Virginia shortly after Paul’s birth, which is where he spent his childhood. The house in Scarbro was not large – with Paul’s grandparents joining them, there were eight people for one bathroom, and Paul for a time had to share a room with his grandfather in the basement next to the furnace room.
Paul spent a lot of time outdoors as a child – he loved walking in the woods, camping, and even did some small game hunting. Unsurprisingly, he was a Boy Scout, which he thoroughly enjoyed… even the time he and a few Boy Scout friends got lost in a snowstorm and were forced to spend the night out in the cold and snow alone. That caused his parents and everyone else quite a scare of course, but as we know, they made it through the night unscathed. Paul carried his love of the outdoors from his childhood with him throughout his life. He also carried his experience of having to clean the chicken coop as one of his chores forward in life – he claimed that this was why he never liked to eat chicken.
Paul’s childhood also involved many trips to the nickel theatre, where he loved watching westerns and other feature movies of the day. His love of “classic” movies developed then, though of course at the time they weren’t classics, they were just what was in the theatres. Paul also loved riding his bike up and down the hills of West Virginia, over the roads paved with Red Dog, a byproduct of the coal mining process. He was Mr. Popular in high school, where has a pole vaulter in track and field, and playing trumpet in the band.
Paul was the first in his family to go to college, and he spent his first undergraduate year at West Virginia Technical College. This was also when first began using his legal name. Up until then, everyone had called him Pat – upon his arrival at college though, he insisted that everyone begin using his legal name, the one by which we know him now. Paul, no longer Pat, transferred to West Virginia University for his final three years. Paul enjoyed his college years tremendously, especially his connection with one of his professors, Dr. Doug Williamson, who turned him on to spelunking. Paul and Dr. Williamson actually discovered and mapped the Windy cave system together, named after Dr. Williamson’s dog Windy who gave them the first hint that there might be something there. Paul’s maps of Windy Cave still reside in the attic of the Errington residence to this day.
Paul earned his Bachelors of Science from West Virginia U, and proceeded to stay on to get both a Master and PhD in nuclear physics. Paul remained busy in his graduate years, in addition to studying. He lived at boarding house with friends which they called the 509 club, named after the boarding house street number of course. During this time, Paul took flying lessons and learned how to fly small airplanes. He took up and taught himself how to play the guitar, and together with a ukulele-playing friend, they would sing and entertain their friends at parties for hours on end. He also served as a counselor at a science camp for high school students, and infamously took a group of them spelunking in a cave system that was more challenging than he realized… it took them twelve hours altogether to navigate the entire path from one end to another. That was Paul’s first and only group of science camp spelunkers. Graduate school was also when Paul had his hunting accident. He and a friend were out hunting small game, and got separated. Paul apparently disturbed the brush, and mistaking him for a rabbit, Pauls’ friend shot him with a shotgun. Fortunately, the friend’s aim was not so great, and so the blast mostly missed Paul. A pellet did get into one of his eyes though, leaving him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life.
Paul’s first job post-West Virginia University was at Bethany College, located just outside of Wheeling, West Virginia. This was a fortunate placement for him, because it just so happened that a cute, young Spanish professor named Sue was also starting at Bethany around the same time, who happened to live in the same apartment building on campus as he did. Paul and Sue quickly became part of a circle young professor friends, and eventually, he asked her out. One of Sue’s favorite memories of their dating period was one Saturday where Paul drove her all around West Virginia showing her his favorite places from his childhood. They had Bethany College’s first faculty-to-faculty wedding, held in Sue’s hometown on December 21st, 1966.
Now, as some of you may know, Sue was the ambitious sort. And as a Spanish professor, she really wanted to go to South America. So, as their contracts at Bethany College were coming to end, with Paul’s agreement, she filled out and submitted all the paperwork for a Fullbright Scholarship to Peru in Paul’s name. While they were waiting to hear back about the scholarship, Paul took a job at U.S. Steel… which only lasted nine months, because he did indeed get that Fullbright. So Paul and Sue set off for Lima, Peru, where they spent a wonderful nine months living in and learning about a different culture. Sue tried to teach Paul some Spanish before they left, but as Sue said, “have you ever tried to teach your spouse to drive a car? It didn’t go well.” Fortunately, Paul was working mostly with faculty members in Lima who spoke a little rough English, and so between Pauls’ rough Spanish and their rough English, they made it work.
When they came back, Sue was pregnant with their first child, Sara, and Paul took a job in the Physics department at Ball State University, where he started in January of 1970. Sara was born shortly after their arrival here in Muncie, and one year later, the moved into their current house, where they’ve lived for the past forty-five years. The house was close enough to Ball State that Paul could bike to work – which we did no matter the weather. The house also had enough land for a garden, which Paul had gotten interested during the Peru trip, though Sue noted that over the years the lawn increasingly shrank, as Paul dug up more and more of it for increased gardening. The family, tiny Sara in tow, managed to fit in a second, 3-month Fullbright trip to Peru, before the family was rounded out with the birth of their second daughter, Amy, in 1972.
Family life suited Paul well – he was an engaged father, much more so than many men of his time, and he loved spending time and doing things with his daughters. He taught them jogging, scuba diving, and electronics… ohhhh… there was a lot of teaching and sharing about electronics. He would take Sara and Amy to his lab on off-days, and the remember getting to play with lasers back when those were a brand-new and rare thing, mercury, liquid nitrogen, robots and more. If the car needed fixing, he’d always ask one of the girls to help out, and he even built them a treehouse in the backyard – and then was fine that it never got used despite all the work he had put in because it had bees in it. And nature, of course. In addition to his passion for gardening, camping and hiking were also frequent family experiences – Sara and Amy remember one special night watching meteor showers on a mountain top in West Virginia in particular.
The family’s weeklong trips to West Virginia in the summer were an annual tradition, where Paul would delight in showing them his favorite watering holes, and where he would also find the kids vines big enough to swing on in the woods. The family also went back to West Virginia for most Thanksgivings, where Paul was famous for preaching the virtues of “pacing yourself on the appetizers.” “We’re having crackers and cheese dad, do you want some?” “No thanks, I’m pacing myself, don’t want to fill up before the big meal.” Other excursions included the annual trip to the amusement park, King’s Island outside of Cincinnati, where Paul loved to go on the rides with Amy and Sara. For about ten years starting around 1977, the family also enjoy an annual trip to Cozumel in the Caribbean – this started as Paul and Sue finally going on the honeymoon they had always wanted, but quickly became after protests from the kids an all family affair.
Paul also functioned as a single dad for a year, when Sue was off travelling advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment with the National Organization for Women. He was a natural at it of course, though Sara and Amy did note that the deep fryer found a permanent home on the counter that year, and that Paul was quite skilled at finding a variety of ways to serve fried potatoes. Apparently Paul could also make gravy out of just about anything – Sara and Amy think they each gained about ten pounds while Sue was gone.
Paul’s diet, as you may know, or as you may have figured out by now, was not always the healthiest. He loved his Dr. Pepper, and he would have no qualms about eating a whole package of chips while watching the evening news. For decades, his lunch consisted of a Ball Jar of homemade ice tea and a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie, which he would strap to his bike and take with him to the office. He also had a weakness for packaged pre-made pastries of any kind, in particular McDonald’s apple pies. The family would go out for dinner once a week on Sundays, rotating who picked the restaurant, and when he chose it was almost always Long John Silvers. Afterward those dinners, when Paul was driving, the car would often mysteriously develop a mind of its own, and if Amy and Sara begged hard enough, it would magically drive itself to Baskin Robbins, where Pauls’ favorite was praline’s and cream.
Paul was a busy man – despite his somewhat less than healthy eating-habits, he prided himself on being in good shape, and in fact managed to run two marathons. He took up kayaking at some point, tremendously enjoying being out on the water, and of course harking back to his West Virgina roots, also loved mountain climbing. Over the course of his life, he managed to visit between thirty and forty of the highest points in each state, he summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, and climbed several of the Colorado Fourteeners. Traveling was indeed something he and Sue enjoyed doing together, and there was also a trip to the Grand Canyon with his buddies that was a particularly fond memory for him.
Paul loved his job, teaching, of course. That cannot go without mention. And he loved teaching so much he did it in many other settings as well, including serving as a volunteer mentor with the local robotics clubs. Other things in life that Paul loved include science fiction of all sorts, watching Johnny Carson and then Jay Leno after him, and dancing – Paul and Sue were in a dance club, and Paul could swing, line and ballroom dance with the best of them. And we can’t forget the replica 1929 Mercedes Gazelle he built from a kit, which he drove in local parades. Nor is his work with Homesavers, helping low-income homeowners rehabilitate their homes. To be honest, I don’t know how he fit it all in. It sounds like Paul did at least two lifetimes worth of living in his almost eighty years on this planet.
In 2005, Paul was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and he beat that. Then in 2007 came a prostate cancer diagnosis, and he overcame that as well. On a trip to Australia in the winter of 2011 though, Sue noticed that Paul was shuffling his feet a lot while he was walking, and while he dismissed it as part of the aging process, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in November of 2011. As was his nature, Paul persisted though, and continued to live the good life, doing so many of the activities he dearly loved. The turning point was the diagnosis of cancer in his gums in August of 2015, just last year. Up until his surgery for that in October, just over a year ago, he was still driving. While the surgery for the cancer was successful, the recovery made his Parkinson’s much worse, and his health continued up and down, gradually worsening, over the past year. All through it, Paul never complained, he never felt sorry for himself, he just kept soldiering on – which was how he backpacked. He was never the fastest backpacker in the world, but he just kept soldiering on.
Paul Errington lived a full, full life. He was a patient, gentle, humble man. He was inquisitive, intelligent and skeptical. He was a great father, and wonderful husband. He loved being in the world, learning about the world, and teaching others about the world. Paul made the world a better place. The world, our community, his friends and family – it, and we, will not be the same without him. Paul Rodger Errington died, peacefully, in his sleep, at 6:15am this past Saturday, November 12th.
Paul, you were a bright light in this world. You brought so curiosity, determination and good will into being, and for that we are forever grateful. Though your physical form may no longer be with us on this planet, the spirit of love you embodied lives on in our hearts and minds. We loved you. We love you still. You are missed, and never forgotten.
Amen.
Music – Chopin Waltz in A-flat
Prayer
Eternal love in which rests the spirits of all human beings,
we are everlastingly grateful for the company of those who,
having walked with us in this life,
have gone before us into the world of light.
We are surrounded by a mighty cloud of witnesses:
saints and prophets,
aged men and gracious women, and little children,
all those most dear, who, though they be invisible to our outward eye,
yet speak within our hearts of truth and love and peace.
Especially are we thankful for Paul.
We give thanks for all those secret, mysterious completions of life beyond our understanding but witnessed by the unending love of the universe;
Paul’s service to others in private,
his petitions for support and comfort,
the cry of his soul in pain and in joy,
and the benediction of peace which has come at last.
Now may he rest in peace.
For, his eyes have seen a glory, and his heart has known love,
and his life has been and will always remain a blessing.
Amen.
Benediction
Let us honor the life of Paul Rodger Errington
by living more fully, more joyously, and more compassionately
in whatever number of days ahead are still ours to claim.
As you leave this sanctuary of memory and hope,
go in peace –
And may all that is holy and good in this world
be with you and bless you
now and always.
Postlude – “Almost Heaven”
Invocation
Holy and Eternal,
We awaken to the sun’s glory of light praising you in the
morning.
You are the blue dome above and the limitless sky beyond.
You are the warmth that embraces Mother Earth,
the rain that quenches her thirst,
giving renewal of life to all her children.
You are the brightness of sunlit leaves,
the congregation of great rocks,
strength giving,
among which we stand steadfast.
You are the stillness in the mountains,
the corresponding stillness in us,
deeper than all stirrings of self.
You are the mesa and cliffs
where birds dart down and sing.
You are the wings, the singer and the song
You are the listening world.
Your signature is the beauty of things.
Welcome
Welcome. We are here today to celebrate the life of Paul Rodger Errington, because,
even though we sit in the presence of great loss,
and are saddened by what we face,
we are nevertheless assured that there is a Spirit alive in the world over which death has no dominion,
a light which no darkness can extinguish.
Paul was an embodiment of that light.
We gather now
to listen; to grieve; and to reflect on Paul’s life.
Most of all we are here to pay tribute to his spirit,
and to give thanks for all the gifts of life
which because of him we have been the recipients.
We gather, also, in the hope that in the time of his death
he might strengthen our hold on life.
Prayer
Please join me now in prayer.
Spirit of light and love,
we are surrounded on every side by a multitude of wonders.
No corner of this great earth which is our home
is without its own special miracles of sight and sound.
There is a goodness in the world
in all its varied manifestations and disguises:
it is visible in the daily witness of nature’s unfailing order and providence;
and in the mysterious depths of our own being
- in the call of the heart’s adventure,
in those countless affirmations when our openness to life
confirms the very meaning of life in happiness and joy.
Yet, the essence of life’s meanings
remains a great and powerful mystery to us;
what we do not know,
we are driven to find out;
what we do not understand
we are inspired to search for and comprehend.
And so, we come to this place in thanksgiving and gratitude
to sing our praise of life in all its complexities,
in all its uncertainties;
and to confirm those things which he whom we honor,
honored with his mind, his heart, and his spirit.
Amen.
Music – “El Condor Pasa”
Readings
“Instructions” by Arnold Compton
When I have moved beyond you in the adventure of life,
gather in some pleasant place
and there remember me
with spoken words, old and new.
Let a tear fall if you will,
but let a smile come quickly
for I have loved the laughter of life.
Do not linger too long with your solemnities,
go eat and drink and talk
and when you can--
follow a woodland trail
climb a high mountain
chew the thoughts of some book which
challenges your soul
use your hands some bright day
to make a thing of beauty
or to lift someone's heavy load.
Though you mention not my name
though no thought of me crosses your mind--
I shall be with you
for these have been realities of life to me.
And though you mention not my name,
when you face some crisis with anguish--
when you choose your paths of right
when you give yourself in love
I shall be very close to you
I have followed the valleys,
I have climbed the heights of life.
“Readings from Earth and Beyond”
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." – Jean Luc Picard (Star Trek)
“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.” – The Doctor, Season 7, Episode 4
"Live long and prosper." – Spock (Star Trek)
Music – “Over the Rainbow”
Remembrances
David Ober
Charles Houck
Frank Eikenberry
Music – “Thank You for the Music”
Eulogy
Paul Rodger Errington was born in Whipple, West Virginia, on November 3rd, 1937 to Ann and Bill Errington. Paul ended up being the middle child, between older sister Peggy, and younger sister Elsie Ann. Whipple was coal country, and while many in the community worked in the coal mines, Paul’s father was fortunate to work at the company store. The family moved to Scarbro, West Virginia shortly after Paul’s birth, which is where he spent his childhood. The house in Scarbro was not large – with Paul’s grandparents joining them, there were eight people for one bathroom, and Paul for a time had to share a room with his grandfather in the basement next to the furnace room.
Paul spent a lot of time outdoors as a child – he loved walking in the woods, camping, and even did some small game hunting. Unsurprisingly, he was a Boy Scout, which he thoroughly enjoyed… even the time he and a few Boy Scout friends got lost in a snowstorm and were forced to spend the night out in the cold and snow alone. That caused his parents and everyone else quite a scare of course, but as we know, they made it through the night unscathed. Paul carried his love of the outdoors from his childhood with him throughout his life. He also carried his experience of having to clean the chicken coop as one of his chores forward in life – he claimed that this was why he never liked to eat chicken.
Paul’s childhood also involved many trips to the nickel theatre, where he loved watching westerns and other feature movies of the day. His love of “classic” movies developed then, though of course at the time they weren’t classics, they were just what was in the theatres. Paul also loved riding his bike up and down the hills of West Virginia, over the roads paved with Red Dog, a byproduct of the coal mining process. He was Mr. Popular in high school, where has a pole vaulter in track and field, and playing trumpet in the band.
Paul was the first in his family to go to college, and he spent his first undergraduate year at West Virginia Technical College. This was also when first began using his legal name. Up until then, everyone had called him Pat – upon his arrival at college though, he insisted that everyone begin using his legal name, the one by which we know him now. Paul, no longer Pat, transferred to West Virginia University for his final three years. Paul enjoyed his college years tremendously, especially his connection with one of his professors, Dr. Doug Williamson, who turned him on to spelunking. Paul and Dr. Williamson actually discovered and mapped the Windy cave system together, named after Dr. Williamson’s dog Windy who gave them the first hint that there might be something there. Paul’s maps of Windy Cave still reside in the attic of the Errington residence to this day.
Paul earned his Bachelors of Science from West Virginia U, and proceeded to stay on to get both a Master and PhD in nuclear physics. Paul remained busy in his graduate years, in addition to studying. He lived at boarding house with friends which they called the 509 club, named after the boarding house street number of course. During this time, Paul took flying lessons and learned how to fly small airplanes. He took up and taught himself how to play the guitar, and together with a ukulele-playing friend, they would sing and entertain their friends at parties for hours on end. He also served as a counselor at a science camp for high school students, and infamously took a group of them spelunking in a cave system that was more challenging than he realized… it took them twelve hours altogether to navigate the entire path from one end to another. That was Paul’s first and only group of science camp spelunkers. Graduate school was also when Paul had his hunting accident. He and a friend were out hunting small game, and got separated. Paul apparently disturbed the brush, and mistaking him for a rabbit, Pauls’ friend shot him with a shotgun. Fortunately, the friend’s aim was not so great, and so the blast mostly missed Paul. A pellet did get into one of his eyes though, leaving him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life.
Paul’s first job post-West Virginia University was at Bethany College, located just outside of Wheeling, West Virginia. This was a fortunate placement for him, because it just so happened that a cute, young Spanish professor named Sue was also starting at Bethany around the same time, who happened to live in the same apartment building on campus as he did. Paul and Sue quickly became part of a circle young professor friends, and eventually, he asked her out. One of Sue’s favorite memories of their dating period was one Saturday where Paul drove her all around West Virginia showing her his favorite places from his childhood. They had Bethany College’s first faculty-to-faculty wedding, held in Sue’s hometown on December 21st, 1966.
Now, as some of you may know, Sue was the ambitious sort. And as a Spanish professor, she really wanted to go to South America. So, as their contracts at Bethany College were coming to end, with Paul’s agreement, she filled out and submitted all the paperwork for a Fullbright Scholarship to Peru in Paul’s name. While they were waiting to hear back about the scholarship, Paul took a job at U.S. Steel… which only lasted nine months, because he did indeed get that Fullbright. So Paul and Sue set off for Lima, Peru, where they spent a wonderful nine months living in and learning about a different culture. Sue tried to teach Paul some Spanish before they left, but as Sue said, “have you ever tried to teach your spouse to drive a car? It didn’t go well.” Fortunately, Paul was working mostly with faculty members in Lima who spoke a little rough English, and so between Pauls’ rough Spanish and their rough English, they made it work.
When they came back, Sue was pregnant with their first child, Sara, and Paul took a job in the Physics department at Ball State University, where he started in January of 1970. Sara was born shortly after their arrival here in Muncie, and one year later, the moved into their current house, where they’ve lived for the past forty-five years. The house was close enough to Ball State that Paul could bike to work – which we did no matter the weather. The house also had enough land for a garden, which Paul had gotten interested during the Peru trip, though Sue noted that over the years the lawn increasingly shrank, as Paul dug up more and more of it for increased gardening. The family, tiny Sara in tow, managed to fit in a second, 3-month Fullbright trip to Peru, before the family was rounded out with the birth of their second daughter, Amy, in 1972.
Family life suited Paul well – he was an engaged father, much more so than many men of his time, and he loved spending time and doing things with his daughters. He taught them jogging, scuba diving, and electronics… ohhhh… there was a lot of teaching and sharing about electronics. He would take Sara and Amy to his lab on off-days, and the remember getting to play with lasers back when those were a brand-new and rare thing, mercury, liquid nitrogen, robots and more. If the car needed fixing, he’d always ask one of the girls to help out, and he even built them a treehouse in the backyard – and then was fine that it never got used despite all the work he had put in because it had bees in it. And nature, of course. In addition to his passion for gardening, camping and hiking were also frequent family experiences – Sara and Amy remember one special night watching meteor showers on a mountain top in West Virginia in particular.
The family’s weeklong trips to West Virginia in the summer were an annual tradition, where Paul would delight in showing them his favorite watering holes, and where he would also find the kids vines big enough to swing on in the woods. The family also went back to West Virginia for most Thanksgivings, where Paul was famous for preaching the virtues of “pacing yourself on the appetizers.” “We’re having crackers and cheese dad, do you want some?” “No thanks, I’m pacing myself, don’t want to fill up before the big meal.” Other excursions included the annual trip to the amusement park, King’s Island outside of Cincinnati, where Paul loved to go on the rides with Amy and Sara. For about ten years starting around 1977, the family also enjoy an annual trip to Cozumel in the Caribbean – this started as Paul and Sue finally going on the honeymoon they had always wanted, but quickly became after protests from the kids an all family affair.
Paul also functioned as a single dad for a year, when Sue was off travelling advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment with the National Organization for Women. He was a natural at it of course, though Sara and Amy did note that the deep fryer found a permanent home on the counter that year, and that Paul was quite skilled at finding a variety of ways to serve fried potatoes. Apparently Paul could also make gravy out of just about anything – Sara and Amy think they each gained about ten pounds while Sue was gone.
Paul’s diet, as you may know, or as you may have figured out by now, was not always the healthiest. He loved his Dr. Pepper, and he would have no qualms about eating a whole package of chips while watching the evening news. For decades, his lunch consisted of a Ball Jar of homemade ice tea and a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie, which he would strap to his bike and take with him to the office. He also had a weakness for packaged pre-made pastries of any kind, in particular McDonald’s apple pies. The family would go out for dinner once a week on Sundays, rotating who picked the restaurant, and when he chose it was almost always Long John Silvers. Afterward those dinners, when Paul was driving, the car would often mysteriously develop a mind of its own, and if Amy and Sara begged hard enough, it would magically drive itself to Baskin Robbins, where Pauls’ favorite was praline’s and cream.
Paul was a busy man – despite his somewhat less than healthy eating-habits, he prided himself on being in good shape, and in fact managed to run two marathons. He took up kayaking at some point, tremendously enjoying being out on the water, and of course harking back to his West Virgina roots, also loved mountain climbing. Over the course of his life, he managed to visit between thirty and forty of the highest points in each state, he summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, and climbed several of the Colorado Fourteeners. Traveling was indeed something he and Sue enjoyed doing together, and there was also a trip to the Grand Canyon with his buddies that was a particularly fond memory for him.
Paul loved his job, teaching, of course. That cannot go without mention. And he loved teaching so much he did it in many other settings as well, including serving as a volunteer mentor with the local robotics clubs. Other things in life that Paul loved include science fiction of all sorts, watching Johnny Carson and then Jay Leno after him, and dancing – Paul and Sue were in a dance club, and Paul could swing, line and ballroom dance with the best of them. And we can’t forget the replica 1929 Mercedes Gazelle he built from a kit, which he drove in local parades. Nor is his work with Homesavers, helping low-income homeowners rehabilitate their homes. To be honest, I don’t know how he fit it all in. It sounds like Paul did at least two lifetimes worth of living in his almost eighty years on this planet.
In 2005, Paul was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and he beat that. Then in 2007 came a prostate cancer diagnosis, and he overcame that as well. On a trip to Australia in the winter of 2011 though, Sue noticed that Paul was shuffling his feet a lot while he was walking, and while he dismissed it as part of the aging process, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in November of 2011. As was his nature, Paul persisted though, and continued to live the good life, doing so many of the activities he dearly loved. The turning point was the diagnosis of cancer in his gums in August of 2015, just last year. Up until his surgery for that in October, just over a year ago, he was still driving. While the surgery for the cancer was successful, the recovery made his Parkinson’s much worse, and his health continued up and down, gradually worsening, over the past year. All through it, Paul never complained, he never felt sorry for himself, he just kept soldiering on – which was how he backpacked. He was never the fastest backpacker in the world, but he just kept soldiering on.
Paul Errington lived a full, full life. He was a patient, gentle, humble man. He was inquisitive, intelligent and skeptical. He was a great father, and wonderful husband. He loved being in the world, learning about the world, and teaching others about the world. Paul made the world a better place. The world, our community, his friends and family – it, and we, will not be the same without him. Paul Rodger Errington died, peacefully, in his sleep, at 6:15am this past Saturday, November 12th.
Paul, you were a bright light in this world. You brought so curiosity, determination and good will into being, and for that we are forever grateful. Though your physical form may no longer be with us on this planet, the spirit of love you embodied lives on in our hearts and minds. We loved you. We love you still. You are missed, and never forgotten.
Amen.
Music – Chopin Waltz in A-flat
Prayer
Eternal love in which rests the spirits of all human beings,
we are everlastingly grateful for the company of those who,
having walked with us in this life,
have gone before us into the world of light.
We are surrounded by a mighty cloud of witnesses:
saints and prophets,
aged men and gracious women, and little children,
all those most dear, who, though they be invisible to our outward eye,
yet speak within our hearts of truth and love and peace.
Especially are we thankful for Paul.
We give thanks for all those secret, mysterious completions of life beyond our understanding but witnessed by the unending love of the universe;
Paul’s service to others in private,
his petitions for support and comfort,
the cry of his soul in pain and in joy,
and the benediction of peace which has come at last.
Now may he rest in peace.
For, his eyes have seen a glory, and his heart has known love,
and his life has been and will always remain a blessing.
Amen.
Benediction
Let us honor the life of Paul Rodger Errington
by living more fully, more joyously, and more compassionately
in whatever number of days ahead are still ours to claim.
As you leave this sanctuary of memory and hope,
go in peace –
And may all that is holy and good in this world
be with you and bless you
now and always.
Postlude – “Almost Heaven”