Paul Dean Dillow
Paul Dean Dillow was born on May 4, 1935, on his family farm northeast of Dongola, the fourth child of Julia Opal Goodman and Glenn Dillow.
Mr. Dillow died on Feb. 26, 2019, in Albuquerque, N.M.
He lost his mother when he was less than 20 months old, and was raised on the farm with his father Glenn, sisters Sarah, Betty and Linda and his uncle and aunt, Tell and Susie Dillow, the latter assuming the role of their foster mother.
He remained on the farm until the age of 19, when, in 1954 he enlisted for a term of three years in the U.S. Army, during which he was stationed all but a few months at Camp Drake, near Tokyo. His military occupational specialty was that of a personnel management specialist in Battalion Headquarters of the 8235th Signal Corps.
Following his release from active duty in 1957, Mr. Dillow embarked upon a 27-year career in the transportation industry, first with several transcontinental railroads, then with trucking companies in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Santa Fe.
While operating his own trucking company in Santa Fe, his career ended in 1984, following an automobile accident which rendered him unable to work.
From 1985 until his death, Mr. Dillow was actively and solely involved in researching his paternal ancestry. He published six volumes of the Dillow genealogy.
He was preceded in death by an infant brother in 1933, his mother Julia Opal Goodman Dillow in 1936, his sister Sarah Dillow Mowell in 1970, his father Glenn in 1979 and his sister Linda Dillow Alsip Rudolph in 2015.
Surviving is his sister Betty Dillow Acuff of Dongola. He is also survived by Bryan Thompson of Oxnard, Calif., who endeared and enriched his life with unconditional love, and who enduringly and unselfishly devoted himself to Paul’s happiness and well-being for over a half-century.
He is also survived by his dear friends Margaret and Larry Dale and family of Jonesboro, and Frank Steiner of Albuquerque, N.M.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 27, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cobden. Burial will be private in the American Legion Cemetery in Dongola.