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                          Paul Francis Toomey         13 February 2009
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PAUL FRANCIS TOOMEY died  Friday,  February  13,  2009,  in 
Houston after a brief  illness.  He  was  born  in  Aurora, 
Illinois  on  November 19, 1927,  to John E. Toomey and the 
former Elizabeth Hankes. Paul graduated from Aurora's  West 
High  School  in  1945, and served in the Navy from 1945 to 
1946.  In 1952, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 
Mathematics from Iowa State University  at  Ames, where  he 
was a member of the fraternity of Sigma Chi. After college, 
he embarked on  a  career  as an oil and gas exploration geophysicist, 
working first for Geophysical  Service  Incorporated  in  the  western 
U.S.,  Mexico  and  Brazil, and then Cities Service Company before its 
acquisition by Occidental Petroleum  Corporation.  Paul  retired  from 
Occidental  in  1985, and  afterward worked as a real estate broker. A 
high-school  track  and  football  letterman,  Paul  ran  the  Houston 
Marathon, the first of his three, at the age of 54.  Paul had numerous 
friends, and  he  was  delighted  to have been visited by many of them 
during his last few weeks. He was a  clever, independent, and  erudite 
man  who  loved opera, politics, classic films and sports.  There were 
few topics he could not discuss with authority. Many of us  will  miss 
his  wit, wisdom  and  concern  for  others.  A  memorial  service and 
reception will be held at St. Michael Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road, 
on Thursday, February 19, at 10 AM.			

======================================================================

Bill

FYI

Ron Casso

> From: 
> Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:15:15 EST
> To: 
> Subject: Re: Recent death of Paul Toomey
> 
> Craig,
>  
> Thank you so much for  sending this news.  Paul was really a fine man.  I
> know he has gone to  a better place.  Can you tell me what was his  illness?
>  
> Thanks  again,
>  
> Ron  Casso
>  
>  
> In a message dated 2/16/2009 3:55:30 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> jedel1@comcast.net writes:
> 
> I'm sending  this to persons who might not be aware that Paul Toomey died a
> few days  ago.  At the request of his friends Pattie and Paul McBride,  I
> volunteered to send this to some of the addressees of recent emails Paul  had
> sent.  I've included below the text of an obituary that will be  published in
> the Houston Chronicle. Please let me know if you have any  questions.
> 
> -Craig Edel, Houston



From: jedel1@comcast.net
To: DESTINYGEO@aol.com
Sent: 2/16/2009 8:32:11 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: Re: Recent death of Paul Toomey

 
Ron-

Basically, he died of congestive heart failure.  We knew he'd been seeing a
cardiologist for years, and a friend who had been a cardiac nurse was
certain he had been exhibiting signs of heart failure for the last couple of
years.  In early December, he collapsed in his garage and was hospitalized
for a couple of weeks while a pacemaker was put in.  While he was there, he
was exhibiting edema, a sign the kidneys weren't working properly  --
probably related to insufficient heart performance.

He went home for a couple of weeks in late December, but collapsed again in
early January, and went to the hospital again, from which he was forecasted
to not return.  Over the next several weeks, he was diagnosed with liver
cancer and went through a couple of chemo treatments, but he didn't handle
them well.  Eventually, he was pulled from all the IVs and sent to a nursing
home, where he lasted just another week or so;  by the time he arrived
there, he was incapable of even standing, and he spent the rest of his time
flat on his back.  He was alert to the end, and his usual self until the
last several days.  I visited him on the Tuesday before he died and was
surprised to find that all he was interested in on TV was ESPN;  he said
that he liked it specifically because there was absolutely nothing on it but
sports.  This was from a guy who before that had been keenly interested in
politics!  So, I think he'd quit being interested in anything with long-term
implications.

I knew him from having breakfast every Saturday for the last seven or eight
years with a small assortment of people that he was an elder part of.   He
was a bit of a mystery man, in that he didn't talk about himself much;  he
was more interested in the topics that were mentioned in his obituary.  I
never heard him talk about his college days, or of being in a fraternity in
college, but we ran across some papers that implied he was a Sigma Chi, and
I confirmed that with the fraternity headquarters.   He was a good guy, and
we were sorry to see him go.