Posted on 12/11/2017
Paul Charles Farmer, Lt. Col, USMC (Ret.) (August 1, 1946 - December 6, 2017)
Marine, Fighter Pilot, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Friend, Coach, and Patriot
Paul C. Farmer, 71, of St. Petersburg, Florida, passed away on December 6, 2017. Paul was born and raised in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul Norris and Dorothy Ruth Farmer. Paul is survived by his wife Kathryn Ann; his son Nicholas Alexander (Jessica Rose); his daughter Jocelyn Marie; his honorary son Bryan Guido Hassin (Katherine Jean); and his grandchildren Aidon, Jett, and Luana.
Paul was a great warrior, husband, father, grandfather, friend, and coach who was always patient, strong, loving, generous, and understanding. He believed in doing things right the first time, with dignity, honor, and integrity. Paul graduated in 1968 from the United States Naval Academy, where he played baseball, football, soccer, and boxed. Paul devoted over 50 years of his life to making America strong, safe, and a better place to live. A decorated United States Marine Corps fighter pilot, Paul’s call-sign was “Penguin” because he looked more at home in a flight suit than a tuxedo. Paul primarily flew the twin-engine F-4 Phantom II and the single-engine A-4 Skyhawk. In 1972, Paul graduated from the U.S. Naval Fighter Weapons School, more commonly known as “Top Gun.” Paul met his wife, Kathy, a U.S. Navy nurse, as a mischievous but charming patient on her ward at Naval Regional Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. He often said his happiest moments in the military were serving as a Combat Tactics Instructor at Top Gun, teaching younger pilots how to fly by example, and fishing for mackerel in the Florida Keys near Boca Chica Naval Air Station.
After retiring after 26 years of military service in 1990, Paul earned an MBA from Brown University and served an additional 25 years at The Pentagon as an Operations Research Analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense Tactical Air Command Program Analysis and Evaluation office. At his retirement ceremony in March 2015, it was estimated just one of his many innovative ideas may have saved the American taxpayers over $4 billion.
Paul instilled in his children a drive and appreciation for excellence along with a love of nature, wine, baseball, and good food. Many remember him through the many years he spent patiently coaching baseball for his children, his grandchildren, and their friends. Paul was a warm and gracious host who always made company feel like family, and his loss resonates across the many generations he touched. He was an avid fisherman, and spent several days of his too short retirement with family in the Gulf of Mexico captaining his 27-ft twin engine Penguin.
Paul Farmer was an elite pilot and a brilliant analyst, but was never boastful nor did he ever complain when things didn’t work out as he had hoped. He did his duty with quiet stoicism, and he did it well. As a fighter pilot, Paul has already been closer to Heaven than most, and we pray he is up there again, in the place he loved, watching over us as was his calling.
Paul will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 2018 following a memorial service with details to follow. In lieu of flowers, Paul would have preferred donations to either the Ocean Conservancy: 800-519-1541, or the American Cancer Society: 800-227-2345.
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