Henry Paul Davenport was born April 24, 1944, the youngest child of Bill and Dessie Davenport. At the time he was born, he had two teenaged sisters, Sue (16) and Betty (14) who loved to dote on him - both refused to call him Henry, and so Paul it was.
Although they lived in Chula Vista, Paul attended Emory Elementary School in Imperial Beach. From Emory, Paul attended Chula Vista Junior High School, then he would go on to graduate from Chula Vista High School in 1962.
Paul graduated from San Diego State University in 1966 with a degree in Chemistry, and went on to Georgetown Medical School, where he earned his M.D. He ended up spending ten years back east. After medical school, he completed his internship and residency at Georgetown and DC General Hospitals, before serving for two years in the Navy at Patuxan River in Maryland.
On a visit home in 1975, he agreed to go on a blind date. Paul and Jo’s first date was a double-date with Brian and Christine Anderson. Paul and Jo stayed in touch and were married the next summer on August 14th, which was also Dessie & Bill’s 50th wedding anniversary. Upon leaving the Navy in 1976, Paul went to work for Kaiser Permanente as an anesthesiologist. Paul and Jo moved to Los Angeles, where Paul worked at the hospital on Sunset Blvd. for six months before transferring to San Diego. Paul and Jo bought their first home on Hilltop Drive in Chula Vista, where they lived for ten years. They eventually built a house in Jamul where they have lived ever since.
Paul and Jo would be married for 50 years, 1 month and 1 week. Together, they had three children: Jamie Nicole, Paula Jo and Robert Paul. All three children were married in the backyard of Paul and Jo’s Jamul home. After retiring from Kaiser in 2002, Paul devoted his time to enjoying his favorite hobbies (hunting, fishing and target shooting) and traveling the world with Jo. Over the years, they criss-crossed the globe from Alaska to Port Stanley in the Antarctic, and from Tokyo to sub-saharan Africa. They visited all seven continents and mastered the art of cruising. Paul especially loved the African safari they took in 2017 and fishing in Alaska, Mexico and Hawaii. His favorite fishing buddy was his grandson, Nate.
Paul became a Christian as a teenager, and his faith was always at the center of his life. He had a beautiful bass voice and loved to sing. Throughout his life, Paul sought to serve God faithfully, and his devotion to his faith and his church was an integral part of who he was.
Paul was also a proud grandfather to Nathaniel Dylan Davenport (19) and Erin Elise Pooch (15). He loved Nate and Erin very much. Getting to help raise Nate was a blessing for them both - they were best friends. In 2025, Paul was very proud to see Nate graduate from high school and Erin graduate from 8th grade. Paul and Jo loved traveling with their grandchildren and were thrilled to be able to take them both to Mexico in 2022 and the Galapagos Islands in 2023.
Paul was in the middle of planning his next trip when God called him home. He is survived by his loving wife, Jo; daughters Jamie (partner, Brian) and Paula; son Robert (partner, Julian); grandson Nate and granddaughter Erin.
