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In Memory

Paul Delong - Class Of 1951 VIEW PROFILE

Paul Delong

  

Paul H. DeLong

Sunday, December 04 2022, my wonderful 62 year marriage ended with the death of my 89 year old husband, Paul H. DeLong. He died at Lakeland Regional Hospital, Lakeland, Florida, under hospice care, due to lung cancer.

He was born April 9, 1933, in Albany, Indiana to Helen Ruth Leeper and Roy Bliss DeLong. During the depression they lived in a little house behind his grandmother’s with an outside toilet and a water pump. He was named after his mother’s brother Paul Leeper. In later years when the family moved to South Bend, Indiana, he attended Studebaker and Lincoln grade schools and John Adams High School.

His mother later divorced and married Robert Durbin, Lt. Col. National Guard. The family began moving around to various military locations and ended up in Tokyo, Japan in 1949 during the U.S. occupation after the war. Paul was 15 at the time and attended the American School in Japan, Meguro. The family left Japan after 14 months and Paul returned to John Adams High School and graduated in 1951. He always said the Japanese experience left a great impression on him while living in a foreign country and mingling with the many people of varying cultures. The yearbook of ASIJ was named after the traditional Japanese lantern, The Chochin. The symbol of the chochin stuck with Paul the rest of his life, representing the spirit of Japan in his memory.

Paul attended Clark College, Vancouver, WA, as a freshman, then went to Indiana University Extension in South Bend for his sophomore year. He then joined the air force for a 2 year stint. After the air force he attended Indiana University at Bloomington and graduated in 1955.

Paul and I met on Thanksgiving Day, 1958, and we were married October 28, 1960, in South Bend, Indiana. He considered this an arranged marriage, as his mother and my aunt worked at the same place and conspired to get us together. Besides myself, survivors include Amanda R. Ramirez (Richard), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, John P. DeLong (Jessica), Lincoln, Nebraska, brother, Philip DeLong (Antoinette), South Bend, Indiana, sisters Linda DeLong, Laguna, CA, and Laurie Bambrick (Neil), Hamilton, OH, and four grandchildren, Sol and Zola Ramirez, and Benjamin and Pearl DeLong. He was preceded in death by his mother, father and step-father.

After graduating college, Paul took a US Government job with the IRS as a revenue officer in Cincinnati and later Dayton, Ohio. In 1961, after attending programming school in Manchester, New Hampshire, he joined the automated division at IRS in Washington, D.C.

After many years at IRS, Paul transferred to US Customs in the automated division. In 1982 he was sent to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a joint governmental venture called JECOR. The family joined him there. This gave us an opportunity to travel the world. John and Amanda attended schools in Rome, Italy and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, respectfully, for their high school years.

In 1985 while on vacation to the States, we made a stop in Tokyo so Paul could show the family where he had enjoyed a memorable time years ago. We were privileged to locate and meet the houseboy Paul’s family had while living in Tokyo. Paul’s mother had taught Taira (who the family called Linc) how to type so he could get a better job. Well years later he did get a better job, as we discovered. He was the general manager of the India Assurance Company. He and his wife took our family to dinner, not at a Japanese Restaurant, but a Chinese one.

Paul retired from US Customs in 1989, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and we returned home to Round Hill, Virginia, where we resided until moving to Winter Haven, Florida in 1998. In 2006, we downsized and moved to a condo in Lakeland, Florida, where I still reside.

A memorial/celebration of life will occur early next spring. If you so wish, please make a donation to your favorite charity in honor of Paul.

For me, Paul was my chochin, representing his spirit and the brightness he brought to life. Paul was a bright light for many years, but now my chochin has been extinguished, and we all miss him dearly.

01/11/2023 EJS



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