Paul Shields Obituary

Dear Family Members:

I am sorry for your loss of Paul. He was such a gentle soul, reserved, private but made his feelings and opinions well known. He had a strong Faith and Belief in God, who he walked with Daily and was such a very, very strong Faithful Servant of God for all these many years.

He worked in printing years ago; we connected doing printing for my business. Years later we both attended New Life, now The River Church. Being single, I would sit by Paul. It was so funny, as it seemed to make him uncomfortable at first, as another single lady sat on the other side. I laughed inside, he probably thought we were ganging up on this nice single guy, but we were all just being friendly and enjoying the company. He got used to it!! Later, we all sat together when we could and converse about life's happenings, the church and friends. Years later, we attended Pine Valley, me on and off and we pleasantly visited for long periods of time when we saw each other.

We often talked about his Grandfather, Milford Shields and his wonderful poems, who my Mother, Clara Belle Heizer and her large Barlow family and siblings knew growing up in Durango.

Marie Shields, as a young girl, stayed with my Mom's family, the Barlows so she could attend school. Paul loved his Grandfather, but has some strong reservations beyond that and never really went into too much detail, but made his voice and different opinions outspokenly known.

Paul was a loyal, faithful Godly man, who I cared about as a friend, as a Christian, about his well-being and his happiness. We last spoke at a Memorial; he was so excited to reconnect and we picked up where we left off, even though it was weeks apart. We talked about changing churches. He was happy, pleasant, very engaging, always glad to see me each time. After over 35 years, I will miss him, his happy smile and miss seeing him at church and in Durango.

I miss Paul and his enjoyable gentle presence in my life and in this world. He left a void in many people's hearts that cared deeply for him for many, many years, including mine.

I know it is difficult to lose such a unique individual, Paul, your Brother and Uncle and understand your sorrow and grief is so very deep.

You each have my Deepest Sympathies and
Condolences.

A Friend Who Cared Deeply for Paul,
Becky Heizer

One of my favorite childhood (young adult) memories was meeting Paul in Colorado and climbing 14 14ers in 10 days. We had run cross country and track together, so we sometimes hiked up and ran down if we were trying to get one than one in that day. We'd sleep in Paul's van at night, cooked our meals on a Coleman stove, and put Coors or Olympia Beer in a cold mountain stream so it would be cold and refreshing at the end of the day's climb. In 2018 I visited Paul in Colorado, and of course we spent every day hiking and sharing old memories of Boy Scouts, Little League baseball, track and cross country and other Robinson memories, our 1975 mountain climbing adventure. I had hoped I could visit again for more hiking, but that will have to wait for the life after. Rest in peace, Paul.

I went on a mission trip to Mexico with Paul in the late 80s he was a lot of fun and very interesting to visit with. In the late 90s my parents packed him and his trail building crew into the Sangre de Cristo mountains to build trail, my parents really enjoyed hanging out with Paul, said he was a hard worker and a great person to work for. Paul you will be missed.I will miss seeing you and your dog hiking around the neighborhood