Paul B. Ridlon

Paul Benjamin Ridlon was born November 1, 1921, in Fredonia, Kansas, to Benjamin Harrison Ridlon and Anna Mae Duckworth. He was the second of five children, the eldest son. Paul grew up on the family’s farm, on land which had been homesteaded by his father and his father’s four brothers. He attended Middletown Elementary School and Coyville High School, where he ran track and played basketball. After graduating from high school in 1939, Paul attended Independence Community College and Kansas State University, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis on Aeronautics in 1947. During his third year at K-State, on July 10, 1942, he volunteered for service in the U. S. Army Airforces, subsequently entering active duty on February 18, 1943. Paul piloted a B-24, total crew of eleven men, in the Pacific for two years. He completed 27 missions over 235 combat hours before he returned to Kansas on his birthday in 1945. He was released from active duty on March 1, 1946. Paul continued his service to his country in the U. S. Air Force Reserve, retiring at the rank of Major in 1963. Paul was employed by Cities Service Pipeline Company in January of 1947. After beginning his training in Chicago, he was sent to various sites for additional training in product transportation. The first of these sites was Madison, Kansas, where he met the love of his life, Wanda Lee Andrew. After learning that he was being transferred to Sour Lake, Texas, he proposed to Wanda on Christmas Day, 1951. Paul and Wanda married on February 9, 1952, in Beaumont, Texas. They have four children: Mary Lou (husband Ed Buffum) of Vero Beach, Florida; Ronald Lee (wife Kimberly) of Sebastian, Florida; Charles Benjamin (deceased, wife Veda) of Fredonia, Kansas; and Don Paul of Edmond, Oklahoma. Paul and Wanda also have three granddaughters, Jayme Ridlon, Dania Carlyle and Laura Ridlon, and one grandson, Paul Ridlon. Paul met his first great-grandchild, six-month old Aidan Carlyle, on Thanksgiving Day, 2014. Paul spent his entire working life with Cities Service Pipeline Company, retiring as Vice-President and General Superintendent in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1983. After retirement, Paul and Wanda spent the last and best years of their lives travelling the United States in a motor home. They enjoyed spending the summer months in Colorado, Montana and Idaho and the winter months in Florida. Paul was an honest, humble, hardworking family man with great integrity who lived his morals and religious beliefs throughout his life and always respected the opinions and beliefs of others. He earned the respect and admiration of his entire family and will always be dearly loved and sorely missed by each and every one of them. Funeral Service: 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 29, 2014, Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Final Resting Place: 3 p.m. Monday, December 29, 2014, Farmington Cemetery, Prairie Township, Kansas. Donations may be made to Alzheimer's Association Oklahoma Chapter 2448 E. 81st Street, Suite 3000 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74137-4250, 918.392.5007.

Paul B. Ridlon

November 1, 1921 - December 24, 2014