Paul Albert Specht

On Saturday, May 4, 2024, Paul A. Specht received his transfer to the staff of the Supreme Commander; he was 89. Paul was born on March 6, 1935, in Quincy, IL, to Harvey and Rachel Specht. He was welcomed by an older brother and would be joined in later years by 5 other brothers and 2 sisters. He apparently inherited his father's love of music. Paul played sticks in a rhythm band in kindergarten and participated in musical minstrels in elementary school. In high school, he sang in Boys' choir and had parts in the musical "Brigadoon" and the operates "Sweethearts" and "Blossomtime". During the summers of 1949-1953, he was a member of the Flying Dutchmen Junior Drum and Bugle corps that was sponsored by the American Legion Post of Quincy. During his senior year, he worked at the local Sears store and continued working there after graduation.
In August 1954, Paul joined the Navy and after Boot Camp was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Toledo (CA133) where he worked as a gunfire control technician for the next 44 months. It was that on board assignment that got him interested in electronics. His Navy travels covered the Pacific Ocean from Long Beach, CA to Canada to Japan to Hong Kong and Australia, plus many stops in between.
After finished his Navy tour, two of his Navy buddies talked him into enrolling at Moberly (MO) Jr. College. He transferred to Northeast Missouri State where he earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration. Accepting a position as a Procurement Agent at Whiteman AFB, MO put him on track for his occupation for the next 30 plus years. That electronic urge surfaced, and he was able to reduce the preparation time of proposal and contract documents from two days down to a couple hours. He also reduced the order time of food stuff for the Commissary and Mess Halls from 30 days down to 10 days. In 1965, Paul transferred to Tinker AFB, OK, retiring in 1995. During those years, he was able to enhance an electronic buying process to handle more capacity, thus reducing administrative costs, reducing inventories and speeding up parts turnaround. Paul lived in the same neighborhood for many years and was famous for arranging visits from Santa and hosting the annual Easter egg hunt.
On April 16, 1989, he married Mary "Carolyn" Thompson and got 3 stepdaughters in the process. Little did he know about elementary school festivals, cheer leader practice and games, choir concerts and drivers training. His literary skills blossomed with birthday poems, proclamations for jobs well done and when St. Matthew UMC started their pumpkin patch, he wrote pumpkin songs for over 30 years. He was a member of St. Matthew UMC for almost 60 years and sang in the choir for 48 years. For 24 years, he was the Vice-President of the USS Toledo (CA133) Association and was able to locate over 2,000 of his shipmates. With technical help from Carolyn, they produced a 20-page newsletter, twice a year, for 18 years.
He was predeceased by his parents; brothers Earl and Phillip Specht; sisters Margaret Ann White and Carol Sue Kropp; and stepdaughter Kerri Davis. Survivors are David and Julia Specht, Canton, MO; Roy and Barbara Specht, Frank and Karen Specht, Harold and Sandy Specht, all of Quincy, IL. Also, stepdaughters Wendi and Delbert Ramsey and Lori and Scott Briggs of Oklahoma City; grandchildren Amber and Tim Antone of Piedmont, OK, Joshua and Jessica Tippit of Harrah, OK, Alyssa and Dante Archuleta of Choctaw, OK, Easton and Kaylie Ramsey, Tyler Ramsey, MaKenzie Briggs and Ky Briggs, all of Oklahoma City; great-grandchildren Brodi Pinney, Colt Bricker, Boston Tippit, Kali Antone, Brecken Ramsey and Harper Ramsey; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Whenever asked about his family, Paul always responded that the $50 he spent on a marriage license was the best investment that he ever made.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to St. Matthew United Methodist Church music ministry or to St. Matthew United Methodist Church mobile meals.