Paul Elroy Ostrom

Born in California, Paul moved often as his father found work as a transit food packer. Time spent with his mother and grandmother helped shape the Christian values that guided his life. The family moved to Idaho in his high school years, and he graduated from Meridan High School in 1953.

Paul joined the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict in 1953. After his honorable discharge in 1956, he returned home to Nampa, Idaho, where he worked and attended Northwest Nazarene College. There, he met and charmed Dorothy Ewer, and they married in 1958. They welcomed a daughter later that year and a son in 1960.

When a friend told Paul that a metals corporation in Henderson, Nevada, was hiring. Paul applied and was hired in 1963 as a maintenance welder. He moved his family to southern Nevada, where he and Dorothy welcomed three more daughters in 1964, 1966, and 1969.

In 1963, Paul enrolled in correspondence courses through Moody Bible Institute, whose mission was to train young people for evangelism and carry forward the Christian revival tradition. He focused on theology and Bible memorization, and in 1968 he became an ordained minister. Grounded in his faith, Paul shared it in both large and small ways, serving at Spring Mountain Youth Camp in the mid-1960s, as a jail chaplain in the 1980s, and as a Bible teacher for fifteen years in the 2000s.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, Paul served as a Boy Scout troop leader. Under his guidance, the troop grew and flourished, with two scouts earning the rank of Eagle Scout. He also coached Little League football and baseball, as well as junior high football. Paul loved the simple pleasures of the outdoors, taking the scout troop—and later his family—camping, fishing, hiking, and swimming. Hunting helped provide during lean times, fly fishing with his brother brought him joy, and wildlife photography became another cherished pursuit.

Gardening was a lifelong passion for Paul. It helped provide for his family, connected him to the land God had given him, and deepened his gratitude for being in the presence of Jesus. He often said he wanted to die in his garden because it made him feel close to the earth and to God. Paul used the garden’s bounty to sharpen his cooking skills, making use of nearly every scrap—some more questionable than others—to feed his family.

Paul retired from TIMET in 2000. He and Dorothy celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends, took two Gaither cruises to Alaska, visited their daughters and grandchildren in Tennessee and Texas, and traveled in Canada and the Northwest. Paul spent many hours singing and reading God’s Word and, even in his 90s, he could recite scripture and sing songs without missing a word.

Paul was preceded in death by his father, Elroy Ostrom; his mother, Louise Hultgren; his siblings, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Ronald; and his granddaughter, CherlLyn. He is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Dorothy Ostrom; daughter, Teresa Hadlock; son, Clayton Ostrom; daughters, Shirley (Wladimir) Pankratz, Susanne (Jeffrey) Beardall, and Tamara (Brian) Schow; eleven grandchildren; and fifteen great-grandchildren.