Harold Alfonso Paul, M.D., M.P.H., died Saturday, December 22, 2018 in La Grange Park, Illinois, at the age of 92.

Harold was born in Aru, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo), in 1926. He was the oldest of five children of Samuel Austin Paul and Elizabeth Riemann Paul, who were missionaries.  After early schooling at a missionary boarding school, he attended high school in the U.S. and was drafted into the Army, serving in Japan and the Philippines at the end of World War II.  He graduated from Wheaton College, IL in 1950, the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1954, and then completed his surgical residency training at Presbyterian Hospital. In 1955 he married Ruth Kuit, who was completing training as a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital.

Harold worked on the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s medical center campus for nearly 40 years, practicing emergency medicine and general surgery.  His career evolved into  leadership at Rush Medical College, where he led the development of an alternative, problem-based medical school curriculum.  At his retirement in 1994 he was Associate Dean of Rush Medical College.

Throughout his life he had a strong love of God and family, a devotion to books and learning, and a passion for music.  He enjoyed singing hymns, and up until the last month of his life would join siblings in singing “By and By When the Morning Comes” in the African dialect he learned as a child. He pursued many different activities beyond work and in retirement, including a 3720-mile bicycle journey across the United States, the study of painting, learning Spanish and Chinese, and  Chinese calligraphy.

Harold was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Victor and sister Miriam. He is survived by his wife Ruth; sister Frieda Atkinson; brother James;  sons James (Nancy Simmons), Timothy, William (Tanya Surawicz), and Mark (Hsin-I Chang); nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A Funeral Service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Western Springs, Illinois on Sunday, February 10th at 2 PM. Harold’s friends and family will then receive visitors at a reception at Plymouth Place, 315 N. La Grange Rd., La Grange Park, Illinois. The reception will be held in the lower level from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to The Chicago Lighthouse or to the charity of one’s choice.

Special thanks to the staff of Plymouth Place Senior Living in La Grange Park, IL who patiently cared for Harold through the challenges of aging and frail health.

—

By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we’ve overcome;
We will understand it better by and by.

(Charles A Tindley)

 

Arrangements entrusted to Hallowell & James Funeral Home, Countryside: 708-352-6500