Services for Paul F. Schrad, 97, of Norfolk were held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, December 19th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk with burial at 1:45 p.m. at St. Frances Cemetery at Randolph. Military rites were provided by American Legion Post 0113 and VFW Alvin Kessler Post 5545 of Randolph. The Revs. Michael Swanton and Dave Andrews officiated.

He died Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, at Heritage of Bel Air in Norfolk.

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Paul Frank Schrad was born April 3, 1917, on a farm near Randolph to Anton (Tony) and Josephine (Reker) Schrad. He was baptized and confirmed at the St. Frances de Chantel Catholic Church in Randolph, where he also received his education at the church school.

Both of Paul’s parents died when he was young. He worked on various farms in the area until entering the Army Air Corps in July 1941, where he was a cook and baker in the medical department. He was stationed at Ft. Grant, Ill., Dodge City, Kan., Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, Williams AFB at Mesa, Ariz., and Fort Worth, Texas.

On June 3, 1945, Paul married Leona Obst at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, Iowa. He was discharged from the service in December of 1945 at Chanute Field, Ill. The couple then made their home in Sioux City for a short time.

Paul was employed at the Henry Claussen farm northwest of Randolph for two years before farming on his own for eight years near Randolph. The couple were blessed with three children: Gary, Dianne and Cheryl. They moved to Minnesota in 1956 where Paul worked nights as a baker in order to be home with the children during the daytime while Leona attended hairstyling school.  In 1958 they returned to Nebraska, making their home in Laurel, where he was employed by John Deere and Leona opened her beauty shop. Tragedy struck the family in 1965, when son Gary died as a result of a car accident.

Paul and Leona moved to Norfolk in 1973. Paul worked as a custodian for Norfolk Public Schools until his retirement in 1988. He also worked part time at Lutz Inc. and at Blueberry Hill Farms.

He was known for helping out their neighbors with lawn mowing, snow removal and transportation and also for feeding the neighborhood squirrels and birds. He and Leona also had a huge garden and did lots of canning and freezing together. He especially liked to help make rolls and pastries.

Paul and Leona resided at The Meadows in Norfolk for several years before moving to Heritage of Bel Air. Paul loved music and seldom missed a program or a bingo game. He was known for cruising around the halls in his wheel chair, exchanging banter with the staff, scrapbooking and showing off his joke gadgets. He was a member of Sacred Heart St. Mary’s Parish in Norfolk and the American Legion Post 0113 at Randolph.

Mr. Schrad is survived by his daughters, Dianne Lamb (Terry) of Kearney and Cheryl Johnson (Kevin) of Norfolk. His grandchildren are Heather (Lamb) Roubicek and husband Eric of Kearney, Christen (Johnson) Watts and husband Mike of Hartville, Ohio, Allison (Lamb) Selk and husband Nathan of Minooka, Ill., and Eric Johnson and wife Amber of San Antonio. He is also survived by great-grandchildren Cierra and Zachary Roubicek, Michaella and Jackson Watts, Owen and Avery Selk, Joslyn and Landen Johnson; brother-in-law Richard Pfeifer; and special nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Leona in 2012, son Gary, brother Alouis (Louie) Schrad, sisters Cecelia Wintz and Carolyn Goddard and several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

Serving as pallbearers were Mike Wintz, Eric Roubicek, Dennis Schmidt, Nathan Selk, Eugene Elliott and Richard Pfeifer.