Paul "Shorty" Brandon

1930 - 2025

Paul "Shorty" William Brandon aged 95, of Kennewick, WA, and Lead, SD, died Tuesday, August 19th in the hospital in Deadwood, SD surrounded by his 3 daughters and other family members.

Born in Central City SD to Urban and Anna Brandon on February 6th, 1930. He was the youngest of seven children who all preceded him in death. Paul grew up in the Central City/Lead/Deadwood SD area where he attended local schools until moving with his family to the Portland OR area at the age of 10. On August 13, 1950 he married Doris Sorrels in Moses Lake WA. They moved to Richland WA in April 1951, where he began working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation as a radiation monitor. In 1963, the family moved to Finley WA, where they became active in the local Methodist/Baptist church.

In the early 1950's, Paul raced cars on dirt tracks in and around the Tri-Cities area, including his beloved 1932 Ford Roadster. He later decided to restore the roadster to show and compete in numerous car shows throughout the Northwest, taking one of his first trophies in 1956. The car is still being shown and winning trophies in the northern Black Hills area where he has lived for the last 5 years. In his younger years, he also enjoyed boxing in local clubs in the Tri-City area. In addition to his job at Hanford, Paul was also a mechanic in his home garage, often spending hours helping neighbors and friends and anyone who needed his expertise. In 1972, he began building a small mobile home park and mini-storages in Finley in his spare time.

Paul is survived by his three daughters, Debby (Greg Eppling) of Lead, SD, Paula Brandon Baily of Lead, SD, and Gayle (Denny Behrend) of Tacoma, WA. Paul is also survived by five grandchildren, Polly, Justin, Ana, Stephanie, and Jeremiah, in addition to 44 great and great-great grandchildren.

Paul was preceded in death by his wife Doris in 2014 and his first great-grandson Devin Perrine Brandon in 2021.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, November 9th 2025, at Finley Grange, 223005 E. Main Street , Kennewick, WA (in Finley).

Arrangements are under the care of Lead-Deadwood Memorial Chapel in Lead. Online condolences may be written at www.fidler-isburgfuneralchapels.com.