********************************************************************** Paul Francis Toomey 13 February 2009 ********************************************************************** 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.