Paul William Harder

Body's broken, I can't make the hills, This life is leaving me, Leading me, Ceding me, My family's sad, But shouldn't be, I'm moving on, Up to the Mezzanine, I love the view, I've paid all my bills.

Obituary

Paul was born in Turtleford, Saskatchewan. He was the third of thirteen children born to William F Harder and Margareta (Wiebe) Harder. The family eventually moved to Saskatoon, where Paul spent his school years.  In 1966 the family moved to Calgary, Alberta.

Paul was very artistic. He always had a pen or pencil in his hand and he loved to draw cars and trucks, decals, science fiction scenery, or anything else that struck his fancy…and he was so good at it!  Paul worked in a variety of different jobs before he decided to follow his passion for art. This prompted him to enroll at NAIT in Edmonton where he studied Graphic Arts. He painted signs and windows and plied his trade.  When his art didn't pay the bills, he did whatever it took to make a living.

He was a lover of music. Some of his favorites were Bekka Bramlett, Iris Dement, Jeff Beck, Led Zepplin, Tai Wakenfield, and Townes Van Zandt.

Aside from the arts, his great passion was for family. They meant the world to him. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Priscilla, his brother Theodore James (Jim), and his niece, Amber MacDonald Harder. Paul was dearly loved by his entire family.  He will be sadly missed by siblings Ken (Irma), Silas (Kathy), Bernice, Brenda Verwey, Jacqueline, Charlie (Lynn), Cecil (Cheryl), Julie (Jim) Malakos, Carol (Willie) Heflin, Bradley, Dawn Marie (widow of Jim).

He will always be remembered for his unconditional love and support of his 9 nieces; 16 nephews; 8 great-nieces; 8 great-nephews and also 1 great-great-nephew. To them, he was and will always be, their Gentle Giant.

Paul was also known for his many acts of kindness. Where he lived at Murdock Manor, he would often take his neighbors to their respective doctor’s appointments, do grocery shopping for them, and run any number of errands just to help them out, never expecting anything in return. Total strangers, very quickly, became his friends!

Paul may have left us too soon but he left on his own terms. He knew how sick he was but he didn’t want us to endure a long goodbye. He certainly did not want to have to endure the pain and suffering a long, protracted period of treatments of his maladies might take. Instead, he simply wanted "to be absent from the body and present with the Lord"* and said Goodnight, see you later. And that, everyone, is the way it will be! Good night, Paul. See you later.

* 2 Corinthians 5:8

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