Paul Raymond Boaz

Paul Raymond Boaz passed away on Friday, September 25, 2009. He may be gone from our day-to-day lives, but he will remain in our hearts forever. He was preceded in death by his father Adrian Thomas Boaz(1951), his mother Lucille (Strickland) Boaz Insel(1995), his grandparents William Dudley Boaz(1953) and Lucy Jane (Mathews) Boaz(1951).

Family visitation will take place at Geo J. Carroll & Son Funeral Home at 3PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009. On Monday, September 28, 2009 Reverend Bill Black will deliver graveside services at Reed Cemetery at 3PM. Honorary pall bearers will be his grandsons.

Paul was born in Woodbine on December 21, 1932. Paul and James walked to Ben Franklin Elementary School and went home everyday for lunch usually a bowl of beans and cornbread which was always a favorite meal for Paul. Growing up in and around Gainesville, Paul and his brother James picked cotton and hauled hay. He played football for the mighty leopards back when they wore leather helmets at Leeper Stadium.

After meeting Donna Jean Martin at the Gainesville Skating Rink, she proposed to him and his reply was not if she was the last woman on earth. Apparently she was because he married her on January 6, 1951 in Gainesville. They set up housekeeping at a duplex in the 700 block of North Grand Ave and walked to work on California Street. Paul worked at a gas station and Donna worked at a local drug store. Then Paul went to work for Lane Wells Oil Company out of Houston and the family moved from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi and back to Texas. In the mid 60s, the family moved back to Gainesville to finish raising their children close to family. Paul went to work for Weber Aircraft, where he made many friends. He retired from Weber in 1994. Paul enjoyed his family, his horses and trail rides, his John Deere tractor, square dancing, bingo, camping and playing canasta. Mr. Fix-it would have been an appropriate nickname for him because he could fix anything that needed repaired from cars to appliances to his favorite the TV.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years Donna, son and daughter-in-law Gary and Vicki Boaz of Myra, TX, daughter and son-in-law Kay and Robert Herman of Gainesville, and daughter and son-in-law Paula and George Garner of Gainesville. He was loved by all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren:

Candy Kittrell and sons LJ and Josh Kittrell, Misti and Scott Vogel and daughters Victoria, Kourtney, and Philicia, JoAnna Boaz and daughter Jacey, Kelli Ford and daughters Kalee, Kaitlin and Kaci, Dena and Chance Pearson and children Audrey Miller, Molly Miller and Nate Pearson, Amanda and Jeremy Arrington and sons Steven Raney, Hunter, Hayden and Hudson, Patrick Amoroso and Amber Little and children Braeden Howard and Raelyn Amoroso, Steven Boaz and daughter Kaydence, and Tyler Boaz.

He is also survived by brothers James Adrian Boaz and family of Dye Community and Larry Herbert Insel and family of Oklahoma City, OK and a sister Vicky Lynn (Boaz) Camp of Oklahoma, his mother-in-law Jaci Bilderback of Gainesville, and his sister-in-laws Jolayne Martin of Boerne, TX and Nancy Winn of Garland, TX.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Grand Avenue Baptist Church or the Myra Baptist Church.