Paul Beydler, 93, Rolla, passed away Wednesday, May 20, 2020, at his residence.
He was born April 4, 1927, to Joseph Edward and Dorothy Elizabeth (Henkenius) Beydler, at Rolla.
He was united in marriage to Helen Schmatz , Dec. 19, 1964, at Jennings.
Paul attended Dixon High School and graduated with the Dixon High School Class of 1949. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and later during the Korean Conflict. He earned his GED while serving in the Army, allowing him to graduate with the Dixon High School Class of 1948. Following his discharge, he worked for his father before reenlisting in the Army as a reservist and being called back to active duty serving in Japan during the Korean Conflict as a staff sergeant. Later, he worked in civil service at Fort Leonard Wood as a troop supply officer and management analyst for the Post Supply Office and in 1961 with the General Services Administration, Personal Property Division, disposing excess federal property for 35 years. Upon retirement in 1982, he opened a shoe repair, leather-crafting and saddle manufacturing business in Dixon. Paul served three years on the Pulaski County Coalition on Aging as secretary; nine years on the Pulaski County Senior Citizens Tax Fund Board, with eight years as chairman; 25 years as the Pulaski County representative to the Central Missouri Area Agency on Aging; and was appointed by the Governor of Missouri as an alternate delegate to the President’s Commission on Aging in 1996. He served several years as member of the Missouri Alliance of Area Agencies; 11 years on the Pulaski Public Health Board and the Lake Ozark Area Home Health and Hospice Agency Board of Trustees chairing the Home Health and Hospice Ethics Committee. Paul was a member of the Small Business Loan Committee and on the general board of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission. He was a longtime member of the Arlington Masonic Lodge No. 346 of Dixon serving one year as Worshipful Master and 19 years as an officer, including positions of secretary and treasurer. He was a member of the Dixon High Twelve Association, American Legion, Lions Club, Optimist Club, Boy Scouts of America and the Oak Ridge Development Corporation. Paul was a longtime member of the First Christian Church of Dixon, holding a number of leadership positions including elder, trustee, board president and treasurer. He later attended Kenner Church of God. Paul was a member of the Central Missouri Honor Flight in 2011.
He was preceded in death by parents, Joseph and Dorothy ; son, Paul Edward Beydler Jr.; sister, Lilian Thompson and husband Warren; brother, T. R. “Bud” Beydler; and brother-in-law, Gene Roberson.
He is survived by wife, Helen, of the home; daughter, Rhama Sue Atwell of Clearwater, Fla.; sons, Joe Beydler and wife Melinda of Warrensburg and Tim Beydler of Smithton; siblings, Josephine Roberson of Laramie, Wyo., Bill Beydler and wife Georgia of Springfield, Virginia Myer and husband Donovan of Greenville, Ind.; sister-in-law, Lois Beydler of Santa Clarita, Calif.; and three grandchildren.
Visitation will be (today) Wednesday, May 27, from 9-10 a.m. with funeral services following at 10 a.m. with full military honors, all in the Birmingham-Martin Funeral Home. Interment will be in the Missouri Veteran’s Cemetery-Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville. Memorial contributions suggested to Kenner Church of God or the Liesmann-Roberts American Legion Post No. 298, both of Dixon.
