

He and his wife, Catherine, had been residents of Williamsburg since 1995. He was active on the Board of Directors of Governor’s Land Foundation for a number of years and was also a member of Two Rivers Country Club. He served as Secretary of the Rotary Club of The Historic Triangle for several years and was a Paul Harris Fellow, as is Catherine. He was a longtime parishioner and lector at St. Bede parish.
In addition to his wife, Catherine, Paul is survived by daughters, Lisa Arrowood of Lincoln, MA and Beth Arrowood of Miami Shores, FL as well as two sons, Brett, of Oberlin, OH and Bryce, of Washington DC. He is also survived by seven grandchildren -- grandsons, Alex and Sean O’Neill, Henry Arrowood, and Connor Space, and granddaughters, Madeleine O’Neill, and Alexa and Lily Arrowood, and great-grandson, Niko Neilski.
Paul was born and grew up in Joplin, MO where he was Valedictorian of his high school class and Cadet Colonel commanding the Junior ROTC regiment. He was a Junior American Legion baseball player whose team was runner-up for the state championship in 1947. He attended the University of Kansas and earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing in 1953, being inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma business academic fraternity as well as Omicron Delta Kappa leadership fraternity. He served in the US Air Force as a 1st Lt. following college. He met his wife Cathie, who was an Air Force nurse, at Travis Air Force Base in California. They would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in April 2025.
He was an employee of IBM for 33 years, including two periods of overseas assignments in Hong Kong and later in Tokyo. He retired as Director of Executive Resources of IBM’s Americas/Far East division.
A funeral mass will be held at 12:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, 520 Richmond Rd., Williamsburg, VA. A Celebration of Paul’s Life reception will follow at 2:00 p.m. in the Grand Hall at Patriots Colony, 6000 Patriots Colony Dr. Williamsburg, VA.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Rotary Club of The Historic Triangle P.O. Box 6296, Williamsburg, VA 23188, or Hospice Care Services/Riverside At Home, 120 Kings Way, Ste 2100, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.
DONATIONS
The Rotary Club of Williamsburg310 South England Street, Williamsburg, Virginia
SHARE OBITUARYSHARE
v.1.18.0