Joseph Paulin

Joseph A (Joe) Paulin was born May 17, 1948 to Joseph and Dorothy Paulin in Holyoke, MA. They lived in South Hadley, MA until the flood of 1951 which forced a move to Granby. Granby is where Joe called home through his High School graduation. He was very active as a youth, playing both soccer and baseball for Granby HS. He participated in Scouting programs, starting in Cub Scouts, attaining the highest honor of Eagle Scout, and joining the Order of the Arrow. Joe also belonged to a few different Fife and Drum Corps in which he played snare drum, marching in parades along with competing in solo and band competitions.

He attended University of Massachusetts in Amherst, joining AFROTC and the Arnold Air Society. He met his future wife, Linda Dempsey, there in his senior year. He graduated in 1970, earning a Bachelor's of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

After he and Linda were married in January of 1971, he went on active duty with the US Air Force. He spent 6 months at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS before being assigned to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, OK.

Their first son, Jeremy, was born in Midwest City in 1973. The following year he was transferred to Hillingdon Air Station just outside of London, England. Their second son, Douglas, was born in Hillingdon in 1975. In 1977 they returned to the USA where he was assigned to Hanscom AFB in Bedford, MA.

In 1978, he resigned his commission and went to work for Mitre Corp. He spent 32 years there, working on a number of different projects including a two year stint in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Throughout his time at Mitre, he made many trips including going to Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Italy and West Berlin (in the days before reunification). In 2007, Mitre moved him to San Diego where he worked until his retirement in 2011.

While still at Mitre Joe started volunteering with the Red Cross there in San Diego and after his retirement from Mitre they invited him to apply for a full time position, He accepted and worked on their global emergency communications service program for several years before retiring again.

He enjoyed the milder weather in San Diego and especially enjoyed spending time with his two granddaughters, Iliana and Keela. He loved reading to them and had no problem repeating their favorites.

Unfortunately he suffered from arthritis which badly affected his ability to move around but he enjoyed traveling and went with his wife to Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Palm Springs Napa Valley and Sequoia National Park before relocating to Garland TX.