Paul James Haedt Jr.

He was born to Paul Sr. and Ruth Gribble Haedt on June 7, 1932 in Lead, South Dakota. He lived his early years primarily in the Black Hills area, attending school in Lead, then in Rapid City where he graduated in 1950 earning letters in band and orchestra. He was an accomplished musician, played the trumpet from childhood on and learned to play the piano from his mother. He also taught himself to play the organ. His love of all kinds of music continued throughout his whole life, whether making music or just listening.

He found a new hobby when he was about 10 while living in Lead, which is a gold mining town. The miners needed their alarm clocks to wake them up but the clocks didn’t always work and new ones were not available because of the war. He taught himself to fix them to make some spending money. His mechanical aptitude and love of details served him well in this hobby and in his working life. Plus the rhythm of the clocks was music to his ears.

Paul attended college at BHTC in Spearfish, SD working on a music degree with a goal of becoming a band teacher. Through his music he met and married Deloris Ellerman with whom he had 3 sons; Paul III, Bruce and John. He left school after one year to go to work with his dad as a steamfitter. He later worked for Honeywell as a service rep.

The family loved camping and outdoor activities. While camping in Yellowstone National Park, which was a favorite place, they survived a substantial earthquake when John was just a few months old. Fortunately no one in their family was injured but that natural disaster seemed to begin a pattern in his life. In 1964 the family moved to Minnesota for Paul’s career building temperature controls. While living there, their home was damaged by a tornado. He and the family were already missing the Black Hills and extended family who lived there, so it was a catalyst for them to move back to Rapid City, SD. He and a partner, Tommy Estes bought Aero Sheet Metal, expanding his work on installing heating/cooling systems.

Paul’s dad and his son Paul III enjoyed most sports but in spite of his love of the outdoors Paul, Jr, didn’t. He enjoyed being the family “fixer”, and said “my only connection to sports was the time I spent managing a local baseball team”. It was a very special memory for him since his son played on the team and his dad (Paul, Sr) was the coach.

In 1968 he designed and built a new home for his family in Johnson Siding, SD. He accepted lots of help from his dad, sons and cousins and completed it in 1970. Unfortunately not long afterward his marriage ended, and in June of 1972 another storm changed his life again. This time it was a severe flood in Rapid City which destroyed an enormous swath of the town, including Aero Sheet Metal. Paul had previously made many trips to the Seattle area to visit extended family and had “always wanted to live there”. This seemed like his opportunity to fulfill that dream. He flew to Seattle and got a job with Honeywell.

In July 1972 Paul married Judy Harper. They, his youngest son John and his two bonus daughters Renae and Stacie moved to the Seattle area where he learned his way around most of western Washington again being a service rep for Honeywell. Several years later he worked a brief time with Carrier and then went to work for Swedish Hospital, where he retired as the Operations Manager in 1994. After officially retiring he did some special projects for the hospital. It kept him busy which he liked but also gave him more time to devote to family, his love of music, travel (mostly in motorhomes) and take trips to Hawaii.

In 1998 they moved to Lake Stevens, WA. His love of repairing clocks also continued and the neighbors kept him busy with their variety of clocks. He never met a clock he didn’t like but his specialty was pendulum driven ones that needed restoration, including cuckoo clocks. Every room in the house had at least one clock that ticked and most of them chimed as well. The motorhomes all had clocks, and even when he went on vacation he had to pack a clock that ticked.

In 2015 his memory did not have its usual sharpness and he was later diagnosed with a form of dementia with symptoms similar to Alzheimer’ s. His health declined steadily over his final 6 years. In June of 2024 he moved to the amazing Adult Family Home in Lake Stevens very near where he and Judy lived, and it was there that he passed away.

Paul is survived by his wife Judy, his sons Paul J Haedt III (Candy) Sturgis, SD; Bruce (Vee) Tacoma, WA; John (Robin) Bothell, WA and bonus daughters Renae Shell (Bob Marsh) Salem, OR and Stacie (Jeff) Johnson Lake Forest Park, WA. As well as grandchildren: Paul IV, Rosaline Ryder, Bryan Jones, Katie Pettingill, Kore Brown, Walker Busath-Haedt, RJ Johnson, Leslie Marshell and 5 great-grandchildren.

His celebration of life will be held on October 12 at noon at Marysville United Methodist Church - 5600 64th St NE Marysville, WA 98270 with a reception to follow.

A special thank you to all who loved him and touched him through his travels, his clock hobby and especially his music. The rhythm of his life was the rhythm of his clocks and the rhythm of music. May that music play on.

Donations may be made in his memory to the Alzheimer’s Association or any music organization of your choice.