Paul Eugene Wright

Paul Eugene Wright, 91, formerly of Tipton, entered eternal rest on Saturday, July 4, 2020 where Paul was a resident of the Solon Retirement Community in Solon. Funeral services will be conducted on Friday, July 10th at 10:30 am, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bennett with Pastor Daniel Redhage officiating. Burial and military rites will follow in the Tipton Masonic Cemetery. Paul’s family will hold a private family visitation on Thursday, July 9th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at Fry Funeral Home.

Family prefers to not receive flowers and has established two memorial funds in Paul’s memory: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bennett and the Tipton Ambulance. Cards and memorials may be mailed c/o Janice Wright, to 54 Eisenhower Street, West Branch, Iowa 52358. Paul, son of Rollie Wilmer and Vera Lucille (Willer) Wright, was born at home on Wednesday, April 24, 1929, in Tipton. Paul graduated from Tipton High School with the class of 1947 and farmed livestock and crops with his father, for four years, until he was drafted into the United States Army on October 2, 1951. Paul trained with the 31st Infantry at Fort Knox and with the 3rd Armored Division while stationed in Germany. On June 18, 1953, Paul married the love of his life, Janice Irene Helmold, at the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bennett, Iowa. After Paul’s honorable discharge on October 2, 1953, he returned back to his family’s farm and continued to farm livestock until 1980 and crops until his retirement in 1991. Paul was an active member of both Bennett and Tipton. In Bennett, he was a member and past trustee of St. Paul Lutheran Church, and as a past member and County Commander of the American Legion, Rixe-Lausen, Post 104, he helped build Bennett’s American Legion Hall. In Tipton, Paul was a past member of the Tipton VFW, Post 2537, an assistant Scout Master for six years, a Tractor Safety Instructor for the Tipton Community Schools and as past County Commander; he dedicated the new Cedar County Courthouse to the Veterans. In 1990, Paul participated in Tipton’s Sesquicentennial Ceremony and from 1989 – 1994; he played the character ‘Rebel’ in Wild West reenactments at Ushers Ferry Historic Village in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Paul was a longtime member of the NRA and loved talking Army stories with his friends over coffee. Family describes Paul as a man that was steadfast in the three values he based his life on: faith, family and service. He loved spending time with his family and being a granddad to his favorite Yorkie, ‘Tabby’.

Paul is survived by his wife, Janice, West Branch; daughters, Mary Ann (Cecil) Slach, Cedar Rapids, and Sandra Lee (Gene) Eiselstein, Tipton; son, Douglas (Anita) Wright, West Branch; six grandchildren, Courtney (Micky) Hansen, Cedar Rapids, Stephanie (Darren) Fry, Tipton, Chelsea Puls, Tipton, Tiffany Eiselstein, Cedar Rapids, Kaitlin Eiselstein, Cedar Rapids, and Joshua (Rebecca) Wright, West Branch; and one great-granddaughter, Lexi Fry, Tipton.

He was preceded in death by parents, Rollie and Vera Wright; brothers, Marvin Wright (1952) and Lawrence Wright (2013); and daughter-in-law, Patricia Wright (2002).

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