On Dec. 20, 2019 the Londrigans lost a most precious member of the family–Paul, the adored husband of Karen, who preceded him in death November of 2018 and beloved father of three children who were so lucky to have the gift of loving and devoted parents not only to them but to each other.
A 58-year marriage of true love, respect, and partnership, together they championed all their children through their adventures while enjoying so many of their own.
Paul was born to James and Sophie (Albright) Londrigan on March 24, 1935 in Springfield. While he graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign in 1957 he never truly stopped his education. He always loved to read and look for new insights even in material he had read numerous times before. Teaching was a natural calling as he always wanted to share, instill, and inspire the pursuit of knowledge.
He began his career at MacCarthur High School in Decatur in 1957. In 1967 he accepted a teaching position at New Trier West High School and moved his young family up north of Chicago. In 1991 he and his wife Karen retired to Hillsboro to enjoy lake living.
He loved to fish, play cards, prepare a garden, watch the birds, go for walks, and as he got deeper into his years of retirement his pursuit of knowledge escalated and he read all the more veraciously. A true scholar he read about math, science, world economics, and religion.
He was a marvel of information on any subject and was always happy to interact. He had a wry sense of humor, liked to claim to be a cynic, but he was a closet optimist and poet at heart which made his wife Karen so obviously beloved and such a great role model to his children; Gregory, Stephen, (Sabrina), and Amy (David) and Stephen and Sabrina’s children Benjamin and Laura. Paul was a man of few words and as an English teacher not a fan of run-on sentences particularly when less and well-chosen words made the point.
His knowledge, love, and guidance will be missed every day.
