Paul Raymond Little

Paul Raymond Little, 82, of Orlando, FL died September 29, 2016 after a two year battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held Saturday October 15 at 1 pm at the First United Methodist Church, Winter Park (http://fumcwp.org). In lieu of flowers, please donate to the First United Methodist Church, Winter Park. Born in Philadelphia, PA on May 17, 1934 to Cathryn "Kitty" Little and Paul S. Little, the family relocated to Jacksonville Beach, FL in 1940, where Paul S. was a pharmacist and Kitty later owned a popular gift shop on the boardwalk. Paul graduated Fletcher High School class of 1952 and attended the University of Florida for two years before transferring to the University of Virginia. Paul graduated in 1957 from The University of Virginia with an electrical engineering bachelor's and master's degree and an ROTC Navy commission. He served as missile officer on USS Tunny, a submarine carrying the Regulus missile, the first submarine-launched nuclear weapon. He had "tough duty" on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, testing Regulus and training crews. After an honorable discharge in 1960 with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade), Paul continued testing missiles for the next 5 years at Cape Canaveral, FL during the heady days of the space race. Early in 1965, friends arranged a blind date between Paul and Jo Ann at an old Florida fish camp called Hub's Inn. The oysters must have been good because they married 8 months later! Shortly thereafter, they bought a house in Winter Park, FL. Paul returned to the Navy, this time as the civilian head of the Systems Engineering Department at the brand new Orlando Naval Training Center. Paul spent the rest of his career with the Navy Training Center, including NTC San Diego and NAS Pensacola. He retired in 2001 as the head of Simulations and Models Division. During his 36 years in government service, Paul was awarded over 30 performance awards and the Naval Training Systems Center Civilian Exemplary Service Award. In 1992 he was a finalist for Federal Engineer of the Year. As dedicated parents, Paul and Jo Ann raised two exceptionally fine sons. :) Attending every sporting, school, and Boy Scout event left little time for hobbies, save for reading. The family enjoyed numerous trips to national parks. In later years, Paul explored genealogy, grew many fine orchids, and rigorously maintained his professional engineering status. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jo Ann, sons Paul and Eric, grandchildren Sabrina and Casey, and brother Jim.