Paul Wythe Crapuchettes

1917 - 2011

Paul W. Crapuchettes, of Paradise, California, died at home on September 24 after a long and vigorous battle against old age and infirmity.

Paul was born on February 12, 1917 to Emile Jean and Harriet Ruth Wythe Crapuchettes of San Francisco, California. His father and mother had met at art school. Emile a first-generation American and Harriet from an illustrious family traced back to the Mayflower and beyond. After their marriage, Emile supported the family as the last gas lamplighter in San Francisco. When that job ended in 1924, the growing Crapuchettes family moved to Mill Valley, California, where Paul and his siblings lived a highly adventurous life. Emile worked at a San Francisco French laundry and sold paintings to help with doctor bills; Harriet became dressmaker to wealthy San Francisco socialites. From an early age Paul worked to help support the family, collecting wood for the kitchen stove and selling newspapers on the commuter trains to San Francisco before and after grammar school. At that time he also learned to love waterfowl and duck hunting.

Paul became interested in chemistry and radio engineering, as it was then called, at Tamalpias High School, thanks to the challenging influence of his math and chemistry teachers. He pursued his education at Marin County Junior College and the University of California, Berkeley, all while working at a distillery, where he moved up from general laborer to running the chemistry/quality assurance lab. His plan to graduate with a double degree from UCB (chemistry and engineering) was not allowed, but upon his graduation 1940 with a Chemistry degree one of his engineering professors recommended him to General Electric for an engineering job.

During that time he met and wooed the love of his life, Virginia Evans. The week they were married, in July 1941, he learned he was accepted into GE's Advanced Course in Engineering, so off they raced to Schenectady, New York. Paul completed the three-year certificate program while working full time for GE on its wartime effort. When the national collaboration on the development of radar began Paul was GE's representative to the highly productive meetings.

After the war, Paul and Virginia moved their growing family back to California to be close to relatives, settling first in Palo Alto, then in Atherton, and finally in Woodside. Charlie Litton hired Paul as Chief Engineer; soon Litton Industries became an industry leader, with well over 30 patents issued for Paul's cathod ray tube designs. Applications included the DEW line, flight control centers, refueling beacons, radar countermeasures, and the microwave oven. By 1963 Paul was appointed Vice President and Technical Director of Litton Industries. He was elected fellow of the IEEE and honorary member of Tau Beta Pi, and the Engineers' Joint Council listed him in Who's Who In Engineering.

Paul's lifelong love of duck hunting gradually grew to encompass concern for duck habitat and water quality. In retirement, he and Virginia moved to property on the Suisun Marsh, where he observed and tested water and duck habitat quality for over 20 years. He became Associate Director of the Suisun Resource Conservation District and active with the California Department of Fish and Game. At that time, he and his son, John Crapuchettes, created Hydsal, a computer program projecting salinity in the Sacramento River Delta based on tides, rainfall, management practices and other factors, for the Suisun Resource Conservation District and the California Department of Water Resources. When Paul's heart began to fail, he and Virginia moved again to the Paradise area, where he and a few friends studied water conservation issues and developed plans for water storage for the upper ridge area which are currently under review by the Paradise Irrigation District & the California State Department of Water Resources.
.
Paul and Virginia were always active in their church membership. Their focus was the wellbeing of their pastor and his family, and of Christ's church-at-large. We are certain that Paul and Virginia are thrilled to be with their Lord, together, and are rejoicing with the 'great cloud of witnesses.'

Paul was preceded in death by Virginia, in February of 2010, and their eldest daughter, Megan Belia, April of 2011. He is survived by the children of Megan, Karen (Mark) West of Vashon, WA, and David Walton of Vacaville CA, his son James (Mary) Crapuchettes of Moscow ID, his son Richard Crapuchettes of Vacaville CA, his daughter Kathryn (Chuck) Prehoda of Chico CA, his daughter Elizabeth (Mike) Miles of Portland OR, his son Charles Crapuchettes of Santa Clara CA, his son John (Natalie) Crapuchettes of Cameron Park CA, and their many children and grandchildren. Paul is also survived by his sister, Jeannette Heaney of Gresham OR, his sister Eugenia Stanton of Los Gatos CA, his sister Eunice Kilkenny of Pleasant Hill CA, his brother Jacques Crapuchettes of San Jose CA, and by many nieces and nephews, along with their families.

A memorial celebration for family and friends of Paul Crapuchettes will be held on October 22, 2011, at 11 a.m. in Paradise Alliance Church's Family Life Center, 6491 Clark Road, Paradise, CA 95969. You may share your thoughts on Newton-Bracewell Funeral Home's website at nbcfh.com