William ("Bill") E. Paupe, Sr., passed away in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 10, 2020. Born on January 5, 1932, in Cumberland, Maryland, to Henry & Angela Paupe. A child of the Great Depression, he enlisted in the Army/Air Force at the age of 17 and earned a Purple Heart with the 202nd Radar Division during the Korean War. He would go on to work for Parke, Davis & Co. in Washington D.C.; serve as Public Health Advisor in Maryland's Dept. of Health; as Public Health Advisor at U.S. Public Health Service, Washington D.C; and with U.S. Agency for International Development, serving in Saigon during the Vietnam War. At the war's end, he was personally thanked by President Ford for being responsible for the successful evacuation and resettlement of approximately 130,000 South Vietnamese refugees. He would later receive a commission as Senior Foreign Service Officer, under nomination by President Ronald Reagan and after 30 years of U.S. Government service retired in 1987 as Director of U.S. Aid in Suva, Fiji, with the career rank of Minister-Counselor from the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. After retirement, he would serve as Honorary Counsel of Kiribati until his death. He is survived by his wife Kim, sons William, Jr (Sandi) and Anthony (Soo), and four adored grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Sue (McCord) of Salt Lake City, Utah and predeceased by his brother Anthony (Paupe) and sister Patricia (Coyle). He truly lived his life for his family and for his country and will always be remembered for being fiercely loving, protective and proud of his wife, his sons, his daughters in law and especially, his grandchildren. He was committed to living as long as possible just to be able to watch them grow and spend as much time with them as he could. Private services to be held.
