Paul Voxland

Paul Voxland, age 78, of Erskine, MN, passed away on Saturday, November 24th, at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 29th, at Grace Lutheran Church in Erskine with the Rev. Scott Baker officiating. Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery, rural Erskine, in the spring. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. prayer service on Wednesday, November 28th at the Carlin Funeral Home in Erskine. Family will also greet friends for one hour prior to the service on Thursday at the church. Arrangements are with the Carlin Funeral Home of Erskine and messages of condolence may be sent at www.carlinfuneral.com. Paul Chester Voxland, the third child of Carl A Voxland and Tena Morgan Voxland was born at home on October 9, 1940, on the farm north of Winger, Minnesota. He attended country school at Foot Lake and Wide Awake, before high school at Erskine, Minnesota where he graduated as class valedictorian in 1958. Paul went to the University of North Dakota and later the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1962 with a BS in Civil Engineering. Soon after, he received an MS in Structural Engineering.Paul began his working career with Standard Oil of California at the Richmond Refinery near San Francisco, then later worked for an architectural firm in Guam and the California Bay Area. However, his heart seemed to be with farming and in the middle 1970s he began farming first with his two brothers, then later he and Ray farmed together for many years. Late in the fall after completion of harvesting, he would return to California and work in the Bay Area for an engineering firm that did structural investigations of real estate.Paul had numerous interests besides engineering and farming. In the 1960s and 1970s he made canoe trips with his brothers to Northeastern Minnesota and Ontario and later on a canoe trip of a month organized by Jim Hoel that traversed the wilderness of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He made some rock climbing trips to Yosemite Valley and the Sierras with his brother Orv. There were also many backpacking trips with his brothers and close friends to the Sierras, Coastal Range, desert areas, and Baja California. Paul was fond of skiing and there were many trips to the Sierras where Paul excelled in challenging downhill expert runs.Paul enjoyed the restoration of old cars. After retirement, Paul and Ray became very active in purchasing and the restoration of old cars. Paul also enjoyed investing in the financial markets, was a successful investor, and read the Wall Street Journal up to the last few days of his life.Paul had a first rate mind, an ability to analyze complex problems and detect where a prior analysis or design might have depended on unsupported assumptions and thus vulnerable. In analyzing an existing problem he always insisted on determining the root causes through careful analysis.Paul was injured in a farming accident in July 1987 and was unable to walk for the following 31 years. Despite this he managed to continue to farm with Ray for another 11 years, driving tractors and combines that Ray could lift him into. Ray adapted Paul's car with hand controls and Paul was able to drive himself and take his wheelchair along so that he was self sufficient on his auto trips. He was able to live by himself for most of those years until health problems required him to become a resident at Pioneer.Paul was preceded in death by his parents, sister Carol, several aunts and uncles. He is survived by two brothers, Ray (Joyce) and Orv (Hilma), an aunt, Ruth Davidson, and several cousins. He will be missed.

Visitation

Wednesday, November 28, 2018 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Carlin Family Funeral Service
417 6th St. NE Fosston 56542, United States