Paul Eugene Sparks
96, Brownsburg, departed from this world to be with his Lord on Jan. 13. He was the youngest of eight children in the John and Emma Sparks family, and was their only remaining child. Paul graduated from Avon High School in 1939, and was soon thereafter to gain employment at Allison Engineering, Plant I in Speedway. In 1943 he joined the U.S. Navy Sea Bees, and served his country in the South Pacific during WW II. It was after his discharge from the Navy in 1945 that he returned to Allison until his voluntary retirement at age 53 on July 17, 1973 as a Senior Industrial Engineer with 36 years of service. It was Nov. 17, 1945 that Paul and Marie Lengel were married and were to have three children Paula, Jeffrey, and Dwain. They were in turn to bless Paul and Marie with seven grandchildren in Leslie, Andrew, Emily, Rachel, Adam, Erin, and Trevor. In addition six of their grandchildren blessed them with 10 great-grandchildren. Following the birth of their first child, Paula in 1947, Paul designed and constructed their first home in Clermont. This activity was to continue as their family grew to three children, with Paul designing and building two additional homes in Clermont. This obituary would not be complete without stating Paul's abiding faith in Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. He, Marie, and their three children accepted Christ as their Saviour, and were baptized in the Clermont Christian with Paul becoming a Bible school teacher and Elder. In 1963, while living in the Chapel Hill Paul and his family helped start Chapel Rock Christian Church. He served the church as an Elder and Bible school teacher until his retirement from Allison in 1975. During the 1968-69 school year at Ben Davis High School, Paul and Marie obtained a foreign exchange student, Jorge Olle from Chile. This was a wonderful experience for the Sparks family and Ben Davis. All of the Sparks family visited Chile a number of times. At the time of Paul's retirement from Allison, his children had completed their college education and had become married. Then Paul and Marie designed and constructed four homes on Grandview Lake. The ensuing 17 years at their beautiful lake provided Paul, Marie, and their entire family some of their most enjoyable and rewarding years of their lives. In 1993, Paul and Marie returned to their roots in Brownsburg, where they enjoyed a worry-free style of condominium living for the balance of Marie's life. During those years Paul and Marie remained steadfast in their Christian faith as members of Cornerstone Christian Church. Visitation will be from 4-7pm Tues. Jan. 16 at Matthews Mortuary, Brownsburg, with funeral services there at 10am Wed. Jan. 17. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Cornerstone Christian Church.