EAA Founder Paul Poberezny Passes at Age 91

[Hal Bryan]

EAA Founder Paul Poberezny passed away this morning (August 22) at Evergreen Retirement Village in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after a battle with cancer. He was 91.

The Poberezny family has expressed the following: “We deeply appreciate all the support shown to Paul and Audrey over the past five months. As Paul often said, he considers himself a millionaire because through aviation he made a million friends. He leaves an unmatched legacy in aviation and can be best remembered by all the people who discovered aviation through his inspiration to create EAA. We also thank you for respecting our family’s privacy during this time.”

Only private family services are scheduled at this time. Memorials in honor of Paul’s life and legacy can be made to any of the following:

EAA Aviation Foundation: P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Evergreen Foundation Inc.: 1130 North Westfield St., Oshkosh, WI 54902
American Cancer Society, Northeast Wisconsin: 790 Marvelle Lane, Green Bay, WI 54304

[FloridaJohn]

Rest In Peace, Paul. Thanks for all the help.

[I_FLY_LOW]

Wow.
RIP, Mr. Paul.

[Dave S]

See you again someday, amigo!

[gpinnell]

See you again someday, amigo!

There will not be another like him anytime soon. RIP Paul.

[TedK]

Mythology has it that if you create an aviator, you are guaranteed access to heaven. If they give Colonel Paul a room in heaven for every one that is an aviator because of EAA, they might have to build an extension onto heaven.

You made a heck of a difference. What a legacy!

Fair winds and following seas, Colonel !

Tk

[Wiltzius]

Thank you Paul for everything you have done for EAA and the aviation community. Now I cant wait to see what you and Steve Wittman can come up with to fly around in up there. Tail winds to you always Paul.

[Sirota]

God Speed Paul. If a man's life is measured by the lives he touched, you are a giant.

[flibmeister]

I was fortunate to have quite a bit of personal interaction with Paul over the years, but one of my favorite stories to tell about him is one I saw from afar:

I was a controller at OSH in the old tower, taking a break and looking out the window, and saw Red 1 coming down the road. Suddenly Paul stops, slowly backs up, stops, gets out and walks 50 feet or so into the flight line. Stoops over, picks up a small piece of litter, carries it over to a trash can and throws it away, then gets back in Red 1 and continues on his way.

In his wake, I watched as a rather large number of people, who'd seen the same thing I had, continued their strolls through the flight line. Every one of them stopped to pick up every piece of litter in sight.

I was a young man then, and learned a powerful lesson about leading by example.

[Victor Bravo]

I would like to pass this suggestion uphill to EAA HQ. Mr. Bryan and/or any other staffers here, can you get this to the proper place, or even directly to Mr. Pelton?

I would like to suggest that EAA print up small stickers, with a version of the original EAA logo, that simply says "Thank you Paul" and nothing more. These stickers should be distributed free of charge. Every owner or pilot of a homebuilt airplane (any airplane for that matter) should have the ability to put one or two of these stickers on the tail, as a lasting tribute.

This idea is just one small tribute, added to the many other tributes that will surely come. But it's a tribute EVERY pilot can participate in, anywhere in the world. I think it would be poignant, classy, and appropriate. I didn't know Paul very well, but I met him several times, and I think he would be honored by having this simple and humble thanks on thousands of airplanes all over the world.

We can't all go to a funeral, we can't all send flowers, and we can't all contribute money to a foundation. But we can all say thanks to Paul every time we fly, at a very very small cost of time, money, and effort.

If the rank and file EAA membership thinks my idea is a good one, please join me in spreading the word and suggesting it to EAA HQ.

I volunteer to help design this sticker, although there are certainly much better graphics experts than myself. I believe that using the original EAA logo is important because it best honors the Founder and his original idea better than any subsequent logos IMHO.

Bill Berle
EAA Chapter 40
Los Angeles