Paul Vincent Ideker died 25 May 2023 in San Diego after a long illness. He was 75 years old. His passing left a huge hole in the heart of the Redlands community, and in the hearts of countless family members, friends and colleagues in California, across the country and around the world.
Recently retired, Paul joined the Redlands Symphony Association in 2009 as Executive Director and was later named President & CEO. Under his leadership, and in collaboration with Music Director & Conductor Jon Robertson, the Symphony grew in audience reach, programming, fiscal stability and prominence.
Born 26 June 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Harry and Kathleen (Ragano) Pearl, Paul came to Los Angeles as a toddler and remained a proud Californian all his life. Raised by his strong-willed and adventurous mother, he was brought up to believe there was little he couldn’t do. He was an unapologetic feminist in an era when few men even understood what that meant.
A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, he cut his teeth in communication as a journalist, first on the college newspaper, then as a freelancer for a national news magazine, a stringer for one of the West’s major dailies and as managing editor — later editor-publisher — of a weekly newspaper in one of Southern California’s fastest growing regions.
Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, Paul’s guidance and values benefitted countless public and private entities including the State of California where he served in the Department of Transportation, the California State Lands Commission, and as Assistant State Controller. Prior to forming his own consulting firm he also served as Director of Marketing and Communications for two major California health care facilities.
In addition to Paul Ideker & Associates, he was a partner in Triad Communications and in Ordinary Magic. All three firms provided strategic marketing, development and organizational planning services primarily to not-for profits, higher education and government. Paul was particularly proud of his work with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; the USDA’s four Southern California national forests including the San Bernadino National Forest’s Children’s Forest education program; as a key advisor to a major federal agency working to create a new management model as part of Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review; and his role in creating public policy related to environmental safety and resource management at the federal level.
His natural abilities, charm and unfailing sense of humor were legend. He worked devilishly hard and yet managed to make it look effortless. He was a loyal, loving, generous friend, the kind that opened doors for others — literally and figuratively. As one long-time friend put it, “he saw in many of us the capabilities that we didn’t know we had and he nurtured those, sometimes by just trusting us to do it.”
Paul enriched the life of everyone who knew him. He was a happy, curious traveler, a voracious reader, and a music lover but, as the consummate gourmet, he undoubtedly brought his best game to the kitchen where, for anyone lucky enough to be invited to dinner at his home, he reigned supreme.
He was pre-deceased by his mother Kathleen and his grandmother Rose Marie (Ross) Ragano. He is survived by his beloved husband Raul Ruiz-Rivera, his cousin Dawn Marie Ziemer, three godchildren and a legion of extended family and friends. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 2pm on June 26, 2023 at Our Lady of Guadalupe, 204 S. Calle El Segundo, Palm Springs, CA. Interment will be at The Good Shepard Cemetery in Huntington Beach. In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul’s memory are encouraged to the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation, https://savetheplazatheatreps.com.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.merkleymitchell.com for the Ideker family.
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