THE PHIL PAUL STORY – ALWAYS THERE TO SERVE
Profiles of Local Leaders Making Impact
Making a political comeback at age 88 is pretty uncommon, but for Phil Paul it was business as usual – ready to serve when needed, whether by his nation or his community. It also demonstrates his commitment to his beloved Overland, Missouri, and to the best kind of government for the safety and efficiency of its citizens. It also is an example of beliefs in operation – Phil Paul’s beliefs that government should be frugal, responsible, wise, and honest.
Growing up and spending his entire adult life in the community of Overland (except for World War II Navy service), Paul attended grade school in Overland and Ritenour High School, where his daughter teaches today. His volunteering and public service combined with his business commitment as owner of Paul Brothers service station has shaped his lifelong commitment to the city. His foresight is remarkable He wisely acquired a station on a major road in what was then largely rural Overland, and recently sold it after 64 years of ownership.
Phil, along with six brothers and a sister, was raised on a farm part of his young life during the Great Depression. Circumstances became especially difficult when their father suffered a catastrophic stroke that required constant home care for many years. Though a very successful high school wrestler, Phil gave up going to college because of his father’s condition. His self-reliance even as a young man was well-developed. When the scheduled builder could not do it, Phil Paul took on the challenge of building his own house. Today, as the only survivor among his siblings, Paul credits his intense interest and activity in community affairs as the reasons for his longevity.
When World War II broke out, Paul and his buddies volunteered for the Navy. These young men from the Midwest reasoned the Navy would take them to the U.S. coastline, so they would at least see the sea. For Paul, that turned out to be only partly true. He trained to be a naval aviator in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Georgia in 1942, but the Navy decided to take only the top ten percent of the flight school class. He fell just short of that and was released to civilian life. In 1944, U.S. draft efforts were full-force. Paul was drafted and succeeded in entering Navy flight school again. After completing almost all of his retraining, he was headed to Pensacola for final flight training when, as he says, “Harry dropped the bomb.” He felt he could best serve by returning to Overland to continue his business and the volunteer firefighting he was already involved in.
Fighting Fires, Saving Lives
Volunteer firefighting had already been playing a major role in Paul’s public service. At age 18, he signed on as a volunteer in the local fire district (Overland and eight other then-small jurisdictions) at the same time he went to work for aviation giant Curtiss-Wright (which become part of McDonnell-Douglas which in turn is now part of the Boeing Corporation). Paul rose quickly through the ranks of these civic volunteers, from Engineer to Lieutenant j.g. to Assistant Chief. In 1957, the Fire Department moved from to an all-paid staff; Paul was the last volunteer to leave.
A year later, with nearly 20 years of volunteer firefighter experience, he ran for election to the Community Fire District Board of Directors. He won that first race by 9 votes and was re-elected to the position for 30 years, ultimately becoming Board Chairman.
During his lengthy tenure in fire service, Phil Paul had many leadership opportunities. The U.S. Army Personnel Records Center, a massive six-acre, six-story building, has been built on Page Boulevard to house soldier records from World War II through Vietnam. In July 1973, a passing motorist noticed smoke pouring out of the top floor of the building. The conflagration lasted four days and remains the largest fire in modern St. Louis area history. It was right in the middle of the nine-jurisdiction Community Fire District, where Paul was then a board member.
This was the first time that five ladder companies had been summoned to fight a fire. Paul managed a relief system in which the firefighters worked around the clock, six hours on and six hours off, to battle the blaze. This required coordination among all the responding fire departments, housing for the off-duty firefighters, arrangements for coverage of the calls in those areas, and provision of meals, additional equipment, and other support.
Many consider this the most catastrophic loss of records in the history of the U. S. military. It could have been avoided or substantially reduced had the U.S. Army construction authorities respected and followed the strong recommendation of the Community Fire District’s Fire Marshal for sprinklers on all floors of the building.
Safer Communities Through Mutual Aid
Phil Paul and colleague Glenn Smith were instrumental in ushering in a new era in fire fighting in greater St. Louis, and indeed across the nation. They initiated the practice of mutual aid agreements so that jurisdictions could automatically help out across political boundaries in fire and related emergencies.
Smith, a World War II Army communications specialist, had become president of North Central Fire Alarm, the leading fire dispatch firm in St. Louis County. In 1956, he witnessed a tornado destroy four homes and damage others in Woodson Terrace, a small community adjoining St. Louis Lambert Airport. While Woodson Terrace firefighters struggled with the disaster, fire companies from other communities stood by, helpless to act without clearance to enter the Woodson Terrace jurisdiction.
Smith, like other World War II veterans, knew that units in trouble could count on support from other nearby units. The Korean conflict had demonstrated to many soldiers the value of immediate help from medics. Smith and Phil Paul began work on mutual aid agreements in which firefighting units would be able to help each other and deliver that help when it was most needed – immediately. Phil Paul’s election to the Community Fire District Board of Directors in 1958 made the idea even more plausible.
Within two years, the concept had borne fruit. The Board of Directors agreed to the concept; the nine Community Fire District jurisdictions signed mutual aid pacts. Paul took leadership in developing the agreements, getting the needed signatures, and ensuring implementation. Smith used his expertise to devise ways to overcome technical challenges and implement needed telecommunications changes to make rapid response possible.
The two men took the concept to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, which strongly endorsed the strategy and alerted other departments to it.
Many of the nation’s fire chiefs, World War II and Korean War veterans, quickly grasped the value of having “reinforcements” available in times of massive emergency.
Moving to Broader Public Engagement
In 1994, at age 74, Phil Paul’s intense interest in a wide range of local issues led him to run for the Overland City Council. He was elected and then re-elected for four more two-year terms. He focused his committee work on public works where he was able to use his fire department experience. His peers named him Mayor pro tem. He was beaten for a sixth term by an opponent who promised free trash service for constituents. Paul would not endorse such a move because he believed it was unaffordable. He lost the election but turned out to be right about the facts. Free trash collection was in fact unaffordable; it remains a for-fee service to this day.
Roles as a local business and political leader are only part of Phil Paul’s service to the community. For many years he volunteered to help the local Boy Scouts, the school district, and his church. He has been a “go-to” volunteer for Overland throughout the years.
Phil Paul’s philosophy of government is clear and unequivocal: Officeholder should be honest, should be good for his or her word, should have lived in the community he or she wishes to represent, and should be judged on what he or she has actually done. “You can’t just be popular,” he says, noting that government is about something much more. Paul’s local election campaign material sums up his philosophy for deserving the voters’ trust: “Honesty-Integrity-Dedication.”
One of those issues where he did what was right rather than what was popular was his visiting of prisoners, including drug abusers, who came from his area. “Some people didn’t like it, but it was the right thing to do,” Paul said.
Phil Paul’s wife Geraldine (known as Jerri or Nana to her family) has always supported her husband’s ardent public service. Mr. Paul credits his wife’s fervent support for providing him with the ability to do what he has done. His children also have significant records of public service. Son Gary Paul worked for the National Labor Relations Board before joining the law firm Brinker & Doyen LLP and now is Managing Partner of this highly-rated firm. Daughter Denise Harper teaches at Ritenour High School where her father was a student 70 years ago. Harper’s son Marty Little earned degrees from Saint Louis University and Saint Louis University Law School, where he won a coveted scholarship in comepetition with hundreds from all over the country.
Alexis deTocqueville and other observers of America throughout its more than 230 years have noted the nation’s strength in its volunteerism and service ethics. Phil Paul has had tremendous impact while being a volunteer, a public servant, and a promoter of honest good government. His agenda is not about himself, but about improving the municipality of Overland, Missouri and the Saint Louis area that he loves so much. That kind of impact is what every community needs and deserves.
IMPACT International seeks stories of other inspiring persons who are making an impact at the local, state, national, or global level. Please email terry@impact-international.net.