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Paul Gregg, 93

Paul Gregg, 93, of Hayden, Idaho, passed away peacefully Feb. 19, 2017. Paul was born Feb. 13, 1924, to Dan and Esther Gregg in Gann Valley, S.D. He attended a one-room school house with his four brothers (they were the only students at the school and they traveled to school on horseback). Growing up on his family’s farm, he naturally cared for animals and dreamt of becoming a veterinarian, but World War II got in the way of those plans. Paul spent his 21st birthday as a United States Marine on his way to the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific. With his courage, work ethic and strong character, Paul definitely was meant to be a member of the Greatest Generation.

Paul was a very thoughtful and kind person but like many from his generation, he was also a very private person. He rarely spoke about what he saw in the war, but eventually he did open up to his great-grandsons because he appreciated that they were World War II history buffs, and they knew what questions to ask. In one story, Paul detailed his experience during the invasion in which he was pinned down on the beach in a foxhole. Paul had to keep moving his gun higher to try to keep it dry as rain water rapidly filled the hole. He kept raising his hand up out of the hole to see if it was safe to come out, but enemy bullets came his way with each attempt. He eventually was shot through the hand and took shrapnel injuries to his abdomen during the Battle of Iwo Jima. His great-grandsons were fortunate to hear his firsthand account of seeing the American Flag raised at the end of the battle.

After the war, he planned to attend veterinarian school, but due to the large amount of soldiers all returning at once and very few veterinarian schools, he realized he would have a long wait to get in. Consequently, he decided to attend Compton College in California where he played quarterback for the college football team, and studied to become an engineer.

Paul met the love of his life, Mary Jo Kovaleski at Big Bear Lake, Calif. They were married in Las Vegas on Oct. 5, 1950. They lived in California before relocating to a farm in Dalton Gardens to raise their daughter and three sons. In addition to a busy family life, Paul enjoyed a lifelong career as an engineer for General Telephone. Later Paul and Jo shared many adventures including travels to Alaska and Hawaii for Paul’s engineering career, and countless fishing and hunting trips with his family.

Paul loved caring for their Dalton farm and taking care of their precious animals. They rode their horses around Totten’s Pond in Dalton Gardens and hunted in the area that is now Loch Haven. He enjoyed hunting with his three sons and being outside from sunrise to sunset. He worked hard daily to keep his home and property in pristine condition. Even in his 90s, his family would find him cleaning rain gutters, cutting up wood, shoveling snow, burning brush, or digging up entire stumps. He commented that digging up the stumps, by hand, gave him time to think. He maintained an amazing blueberry patch, and hand scribed logs from his property to build his horse corral. Throughout his life, Paul had an amazing work ethic and deep sense of personal responsibility. He didn’t want anyone’s assistance or help, if he was able to do it himself.

Paul was always so happy to see his great-grandchildren and showed a genuine interest in learning what they liked and what was important to them. He would sit with them while they programmed their robot or watch for hours while they flew their drone. He would ask questions showing that he truly cared about their interests. He loved to hold and play with his youngest great-grandson, Dalton. He was constantly commenting on how very special and smart little Dalton was and would sit with him on his lap and read to him. Paul was generous with anything he could offer to family or a friend. Throughout his life, he would make sure that others had what they needed before he would consider anything for himself.

Paul was preceded in death by his beautiful wife of 65 years, Mary Jo; youngest son, James and grandson Travis. Paul is survived by his children, Regie (Bob), Scott (Sharon) and Bob (Pam); grandchildren Tiffany Kugler (Paul), Mike Gregg (Meghan), Chris Edmondson, Kelli Alderman (Seth), Bryan Gregg, Amber Gregg and Tyler Gregg; great-grandchildren Justin and Austin Kugler, Carli Jo Reeves, Eire, Joslyn and Lilli Alderman, Kireann Gregg and Dalton Gregg.

Please visit Paul’s online memorial and sign his guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.