Paul L. Redfearn Jr.

1926 - 2018

Paul L. Redfearn, JR.

Springfield - Paul L. Redfearn, Jr., born October 5, 1926, Sanford, Florida, to Rev. Paul L. Redfearn and Carolyn Redfearn., died on November 26, 2018. He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 70 years, Alice Rubie, and son Paul L. III, and his wife Denise, and son James Jeffrey and sister Ella May Banton and her husband Jack. He has two granddaughters, Ashley Welch and Lauren Collums, and one step-grandson, Daniel Jeffries, and has five great grandchildren, Paxton and Bennett Welch, Madilyn Collums, and Jesse and Jordan Jeffries.

Memorial services will begin at 6:30 pm, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018 at Christ United Methodist Church, 14506 E. 39th St. S., Independence, MO 64055; cremation. Visitation will begin at 5:30 pm before the service at church. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to the Paul Redfearn Endowed Fund c/o Missouri State University Foundation, 300 South Jefferson, Springfield, MO 65806. Checks can be made to Missouri State Foundation with memo Paul Redfearn Endowed Fund.

Paul received a B.S. from Florida Southern College in 1948, a M.S. from the University of Tennessee in 1949, and a Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1957. He served as interim instructor at The University of Florida (1950) and retired after 31 years as an Emeritus Professor of Biology (Botany), Missouri State University. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corp in 1944 and 1945, and then in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corp from 1950-1954 serving in California and Japan. He served as a Councilman and Mayor of Springfield, Missouri, from 1973 to 1981.

Paul specialized in the study of mosses and liverworts, and he collected in Alaska and N.W. Canada, Maritime Provinces of Canada, Interior Highlands of North America (Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma), Edward's Plateau of Texas, Japan, Canary Islands and Hainan, Guangzhou, Sichuan and Yunnan in China. He was selected for a one-month visitation to the Soviet Union by the National Academy of Sciences in 1971. He authored or co-authored over 96 publications, including two books.

He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, American Bryological Society (serving as President, Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager), Missouri Native Plant Society, Ecological Society of America, American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Missouri Prairie Foundation, and American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow 1965). He was a Member of the Environmental Quality Committee of the National League of Cities, 1973 to 1981, a Member of the Board of the Missouri Chapter of the Nature Conservancy; Editor, Missouriensis (1986 to 1992) and on the Editorial Board (1993 to date), Member of State Biodiversity Committee, Missouri Department of Conservation, 1989 to 1991, and a Volunteer Curator, Norland Henderson Hebraium, Powell Gardens, Missouri. Paul was a member of the Christ United Methodist Church, Independence, MO.

He received Outstanding Educators of America Award in 1972 and 1973, the Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Scholarship in 1987 from the Missouri State University, and Award of Appreciation in 2001 by The Alumni Association, Missouri State University Alumni Association, and John E. Wiley Award of Service in 2002, and the Julian A. Steyermark Award in 1991, both presented by the Missouri Native Plant Society.

Condolences may be expressed at www.speakschapel.com (Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel 816-373-3600)