Paula Laverne Engle

She was born on April 16, 1944, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and she entered this world as a fighter. As a child, she survived polio and even became a March of Dimes poster child. Long before anyone called her courageous, she was already proving she was. She stayed in the hospital after she was released so that she could be the source of hope her little sister Geana needed to survive a different strain of polio.

Family was her heart from a very early age.

When she was thirteen years old, her family moved from her beloved Arkansas home and family to Newhall, California, following her father's work. Later she attended Hawthorne High School, where she joined the drama team and was voted Best Actress. It was there that she met the love of her life, Bill Engle.

At just sixteen years old, they married. By today's standards that seems impossibly young, but theirs was a love that endured through the joys and challenges of building a family together. They were young, innocent, and deeply in love.

Together they raised five daughters:

• Deborah Anne Engle

• Lisa Lou Ramsey

• Cynthia Suzanne McComb

• Amanda Melissa Neal

• April Laverne Engle

Growing up, our home wasn't perfect, but it was filled with things that mattered most—love, laughter, security, and faith. We always knew we belonged. We always knew we were loved. And we always knew that God loved us too.

Our mother wasn't simply someone who had children. She was a mother in every sense of the word.

She was the one who showed up.

She was the room mom at school. The band mom cheering from the sidelines. She sang in the choir at Rose Drive Friends Church. She was involved, invested, and present in every season of our lives. Whether she was helping bring a new grandbaby into the world, encouraging us through disappointments, celebrating victories, or simply listening, she made each of us feel important.

She graduated from Hawthorne High School, later studied psychology in college, worked in administrative positions throughout her life, and often proudly stated that her greatest occupation was being a "Domestic Engineer." But if you asked her what her life's work really was, I don't think she'd mention any job title.

She would simply say she loved people.

That love extended far beyond our family.

If you were hurting, she listened.

If you were hungry, she fed you.

If you needed a place to belong, to sleep, she somehow made you feel like family.

She volunteered at Featherly Park, serving people experiencing homelessness by helping with personal grooming, encouraging them, and assisting them as they searched for work. She believed every person deserved dignity and hope. She didn’t just say it, she lived it.

Our mother wasn't just the matriarch of our family. She became a surrogate mom to so many others.

As Christ followers, we grieve today, but we do not grieve without hope. Mama’s faith was real. She trusted Jesus throughout her life, from the time she was a little girl, and because of that, we have confidence that this goodbye is only temporary. We believe she is whole again—free from pain, reunited with loved ones who went before her, kissing our Daddy, and finally hearing the words every faithful servant longs to hear: "Well done."