Paul Easton

BOARDMAN âa�" There will be memorial services at 1 PM Saturday at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 119 Stadium Dr., Boardman, OH, for Paul Easton, 72, who died Tuesday morning at home with his family by his side, following a courageous 1 1/2-year battle with lymphoma. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. He was born April 10, 1931 in Youngstown, the son of the late Hugh and Naomi (Shook) Easton. He attended Youngstown State University and was a Cum-Laude graduate of Hiram College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science in June, 1982. He held a Master of Arts in Ministry from Carolina University of Theology granted in April, 1997, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Carolina University of Theology which he received on July 15, 2003. He was a handwriting expert, having graduated from the International Graphoanalysis Institute in Chicago in 1972, serving in many handwriting cases throughout the eastern U.S., through the end of 2003. Together with his daughter Rebecca M. Easton-Wehr, also a certified Graphoanalyst, he was a partner in Easton-Wehr Handwriting Consultants. He was a court-qualified Questioned Document Examiner and a charter member of W.A.D.E. (World Association of Document Examiners), having done questioned-document work for corporations, department stores, schools, credit companies, police agencies, courts, attorneys, and individuals, appearing on both radio and television. Mr. Easton was certified in 1987 as an instructor for Stephen Ministries Leaders Training, and received certification from Lexington Theological Seminary in several fields of study, including Spiritual Formation, Preaching, Revitalizing the Church, Church Leadership, Spiritual Guidance, The Art of Pastoral Care and Counseling, and numerous books of the Bible. He received training at the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in 1995 at the Mediation Skills Training Institute, which led to extensive Conflict Resolution Counseling with many churches within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ denomination. He was a trained mediator and gifted facilitator in conflict resolution, consulting with over 100 main-stream congregations from almost every denomination, in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. He was a licensed Social Worker by the State of Ohio until becoming a licensed minister in 1992. He received Interim Ministry Network certification in 1997. Mr. Easton worked at Republic Steel Corp. in Youngstown from 1949 to 1952. He served as a Sergeant in the Eighth Division of the U.S. Army-Korea from 1952 to 1954, where he trained as a Court Reporter. From 1954 to1964, he worked for the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad/Brotherhood of R.R. Trainmen, also serving on special assignment in the office of Vice President of the Erie Railroad in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Easton was the first employee hired at the General Motors-Lordstown plant upon its opening in 1964, where he worked in Personnel, ending as Manager of Human Resources at his retirement on Nov. 1, 1986. From 1985 through 1989, he worked with Herman Associates, Inc. in Rittman, Ohio, designing and conducting workshops and training sessions in all areas of Human Resources. He was a consultant with wide-range manufacturing as well as non-profit and service groups. Mr. Easton served as Executive Director of Hospice of the Valley (Youngstown, Ohio) from 1989 to 1995, and he was an Instructor at Kent State University (Trumbull and Tuscarawas campuses) from 1980 through 2001, teaching Human Resources, Labor Relations, Business, Personnel Management, Skill Building, Public Speaking, Handwriting Analysis, and Conflict Resolution. -2- Mr. Easton was a member of the National Management Association, the Youngstown Area Crime Clinic, the American Association of Christian Counselors, the Interim Ministry Network, the Alban Institute, Leadership Mahoning Valley, the Midlothian Area Ministerial Association, Red Cross, and was a Notary Public for the State of Ohio. He served on the boards of The Epilepsy Foundation (Mahoning Valley Chapter) and the Sojourner House Domestic Violence Shelter (Burdman Group, Inc.). He was a past member of Boardman Rotary. He appears in Whoâa�a��s Who in the Midwest, Men of Achievement (published in England), and Personalities of the West and Midwest. He was a published author, having his article âa�A"Evidenceâa�A� appear in the World Association of Document Examinerâa�a��s Journal, and having co-authored the book, The Bear Facts of Dieting with Lawrence L. Maggiano, M.D. (Warren, Ohio) in 1990. Two other articles are pending publication: âa�A"Is Graphoanalysis Worth Its Salt?âa�A� and âa�A"A History of Writingâa�A�. Mr. Easton was a member of Boardman Christian Church, and a past member of Pilgrim Collegiate Church and Bethlehem United Church of Christ (both of Youngstown), the latter two merging in Oct., 1999 to become Faith Community Church. He was also a long-standing member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Boardman, Ohio, during which time he was selected as a representative of the Presbyterian Synod to take part in a denominational trip to Ghana, Africa in the late 1980âa�a��s, to further the church in that area. He returned from Africa and undertook ongoing fundraising to build new water wells for those in Ghana. The Organization of Protestant Men pronounced Mr. Easton their Man of the Year in 1977, and he was presented with the Outstanding Disciple Award by Central Christian Church (Youngstown) in Feb., 1993, which was his initial pastoral interim church. Mr. Easton has fulfilled pastoral interim ministries at Central Christian Church (Youngstown), Central Christian Church (Warren), Champion Christian Church, Howland Community Church, Bazetta Christian Church (Cortland), and Faith Community Church, where he served as a facilitator for church merger. On Sept. 21, 2002 Mr. Easton was privileged to lead the launch service for a new church plant in North Lima, OH, The Saturday Church at Glenellen, held at Glenellen Suites and Villas on Market Street, which he served through Nov., 2003 until his health no longer allowed. Despite his many civic, corporate, and clergy roles, Paul Easton will be most enduringly remembered by those who knew him as an advocate for people. He loved people, and his desire was to see all individuals come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to further the potential of their God-given gifts and talents. He was truly an advocate for the oppressed and those in need, giving generously of his time and possessions. He loved to learn and was a strong proponent of education. He will be remembered by his friends and family as a gentlemanâa�a��s gentleman. Mr. Easton is survived by his wife of 43 years, Elva Mae (Wright) Easton, whom he married April 30, 1960, a daughter, Rebecca M. Wehr of North Lima, her husband Larry, and grandsons Aaron, Evan and Adam Wehr; a son-in-law Sheldon N. Martin of Lancaster, PA and his wife Naomi, and grandsons Brian and Kevin Martin; Paul A. Thomas (Youngstown), whom he served as legal guardian since May, 1986; a sister Ruth -3- Freed (Decatur, Indiana); a brother and sister-in-law Robert and Cathy Easton (Youngstown), and 19 nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a daughter Celeste Marie (Easton) Martin, a brother Billy Easton, two sisters both named Frances, a nephew and a niece. Calling hours will be from 5 to 8 PM Friday evening at Cunningham-Becker Funeral Home, Poland Chapel, 270 N. Main St., and from 11 to 12:45 PM Saturday at Westminster Presbyterian Church, preceding the memorial service. Memorial contributions may be sent in Paulâa�a��s memory to: The Saturday Church at Glenellen, c/o Glenellen Senior Trust, 9661 Market St., North Lima, OH 44452, Boardman Christian Church, 565 Boardman-Canfield Rd., Boardman, OH 44512, Central Christian Church, 2051 E. Market St., Warren, OH 44483, Faith Community Church, 1919 E. Midlothian Blvd., Youngstown, OH 44502, or Hospice of the Valley, 5190 Market St., Boardman, OH 44512. Messages may be sent to the family by mail, or via Email at: PEa682@aol.com.

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