Paul Edward Fehrer, beloved husband, brother, father, uncle, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at age 75 after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Paul was born in Barr Lake, Colorado on October 4, 1943, the fifth of six children to Alex Fehrer Sr. and Mollie Ashenbrenner.
Paul is survived by his wife, Betty, his eight children, Douglas Fehrer, Donald Fehrer, Kim Fehrer, Lisa Knutson (Schlotfeldt), Jeff Howard, Mike Vendetti, Nate Howard, and Michael Comegys; eight grandchildren, two great grandchildren, sisters Verda Strawn and Justine Bierle and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
Paul was preceded in death by his parents Alex Fehrer Sr. and Mollie Ashenbrenner, son Paul Fehrer, Jr., sister Helen Huscusson, brothers Alex Fehrer, Jr. and Virgil Fehrer and nephew Ty Fehrer.
One of Paul’s greatest accomplishments was founding United Sales, Inc. (formerly Yakima Quality Welding), with his wife Betty in 1987. They started the business out of their home garage and due to increased production needs, by 1990, they moved the business into a larger building in Union Gap.
Through continued growth, by 1995, they relocated the business once again to a 20,000 square foot facility, where it still operates today. He even acquired an additional 10,000 square feet of the neighboring building to house a powder coating operation and overflow for manufacturing.
Paul grew the company into one of the leading fresh fruit packing line manufacturers in the country. With packing lines predominately in the Pacific Northwest, but also spread-out across the country including Utah, California, Michigan, Texas, and New York. His many years of experience in manufacturing and installing packing equipment allowed him to guide the team at United Sales to design and build state of the art packing lines that were full of innovative options and features. He always strived to provide the best workmanship and quality to the customer because he felt that not only should the equipment perform well but that it should show well too. His ideas and quality of finished equipment caught the eye of multiple international grading equipment manufacturers and lead to his partnership with Greefa Grading Equipment from Holland. Together they were able to provide turn-key packing lines that are leading the industry to this day. People now come from all over the world to tour these lines and see how they might implement some of the components into their own lines back home.
Paul didn’t keep his successes to himself. He was known for his generosity, kindness and selflessness. He never forgot his humble beginnings and while he held the bar high for others, he held it even higher for himself.
There will be a visitation Thursday, November 15, 2018 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Graveside service will be at West Hills Memorial Park Friday, November 16, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. A Celebration of life will be held at East Valley Foursquare Church, 101 Butterfield Rd., Yakima, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St Jude Children’s Hospital or the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
To share a memory or express a condolence, please visit www.keithandkeith.com.
