Life History of Paul E Liston

This is the talk that I gave at the funeral on Saturday.

• Paul Earl Liston was born on September 19, 1956 to Verdin and Marie Liston
o September is during the pine nut season, and if you know the Listons and their pine nuts, then you would know that Verdin was out back working the pine nut sorting and counting machines.
o When my grandma felt like it was time to go to the hospital, she had to call Sandra, my dad’s oldest sister to drive her to the hospital because there was no interrupting a Liston while working in the pine nuts.
• Paul as a first name was decided upon because his mother liked it.
• Earl came from Paul’s uncle Earl Saxton, and Grandma Liston said that Paul E Liston just sounded like a good strong name.

• Paul is the youngest of seven children:
o Sandara
o Sherril
o Elaine
o Larry
o Joyce
o Janice
o Paul

• Paul grew up on 800 east in Orem and often participated in the many family businesses that he could participate in
o For many years the family sold Christmas trees all over the valley.

• Before Paul even started school he had already started his own money making scheme. He would go around and gather left-over bunches and Christmas tree limbs and sell them as Christmas decorations to the customers.
• His siblings said that he made a lot of money for his age.
o Another family business that they worked in almost every year was Pine nuts.
• Paul would always help to sell the family pine nuts, and did a great job in sales.
• When he was off of his mission he started driving a large semi truck picking up and delivering the pine nuts to the Orem yard. That truck is how I got one of these scars on my forehead.

• Paul has always been a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
o At a young age he regularly attended the adult Sunday school and relief society classes, and was also faithful visiting teacher because everywhere that his mother went, Paul was by her side.
o When Paul was about 5, the Provo temple was just being built. He wanted to be a part of the beautiful building, so he donated $5.00 to the temple fund to help in the lords work.
o When he was a young boy there was a drought when lots of ward members prayed and fasted for rain. The next day Paul was seen out walking in his raincoat and boots, getting ready for the rain. His faith was always incredible both as a child and as an adult.

• Paul attended Hillcrest Elementary School in south Orem
o In Paul’s own words he agreed that he wasn’t the best student, but he sure loved school.
o His favorite teacher was Mr. Rogers – He taught the students how to play games at recess and became more of a friend to his students than just a teacher.
o He was not one to do a lot of reading, but he did own every Dr. Seuss book that he knew about.
o While he was in elementary school he had a favorite red shirt. In fact he loved it so much that his mother said that he wore it every day to school. She had to wash it out every night so that he could wear a clean red shirt to school. It is no surprise to us though; he has always been a practical and determined man.
o Paul always excelled at everything that he did. One day one of his teachers asked him to find as many words that he could out of the word Constantinople. He asked everyone to help and ended up founding the most words out of anyone in his class. He always wanted to be the best at everything that he did

• At age 12 Paul started helping the family by working with the Utah Trail Builders company (composed mostly of Liston family)
o They worked on many trails in different western states including:
o Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, California, Colorado, Utah
• Pacific Crest Trail in California and Washington
• Aspen Grove and American Fork Timpanogos trail

• In high school Paul was known by everyone by his nick-name; pine tree
o Paul was very likable and had many friends. He was elected as Senior Class President at Orem High School for the graduating class of 1975
o He was a state record holder in track-and-field for the shot-put, and was considered a star on the Track and Field team of Orem High.
o Along with these great achievements, Paul also played the trumpet in the Orem High School band, and ended up competing for first chair against John Davis, and Kirt Bestor. This was motivation enough to keep my dad practicing daily to be the best dang trumpet player in the school.

• Paul Liston was called to server an LDS mission in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania mission where he was influential in teaching the gospel to many families.
o There was one contact in particular that puts the Liston name just one step closer to the movie stars. Paul and his companion spent many hours in the home of Christina Aguilera’s mother. The family continued to send him Christmas cards for several years after his mission.
o It was on his mission that Paul gained a very firm testimony of the reality of the presence of the Holy Ghost. This became an anchor to help him with future decisions throughout his lifetime.

• In 1978 Paul married Alisa in the Provo Temple. Paul and Alisa are the parents of 5 children. Each of which has shared their favorite memories about their father, which I would like to share with you starting with myself…

o Bryan is the happiest child of the bunch, and was always the gadget wiz kid.
• I will always remember working with my dad down at the wood shop and at A&P Craft. He gave me a job when I was 10 just doing simple things around the shop and store. I loved how he always made the atmosphere inside professional and still playful and fun.
• I remember one of my favorite stories was during a Christmas party with the employees. He was being handed a couple presents to unwrap, and one of them was a tin of Oreo cookies, or so it seemed. As he went to pull the lid off of the tin he screamed a choice word or two dropped the tin on the ground and jumping into the air. Two little rats then jumped for safety as they were so poorly introduced to their new owner.
• We had rats for a couple years after that little prank, and they weren’t as bad as they seemed, but the tails of those guys always seemed to gross my dad out after that day.
• My dad was an awesome manager though. As the boss he demanded the respect of all his employees, but he also gave that same respect to each one of them, making them feel important in their own ways.
• I am so grateful that I have been able to spend time with my dad both in the home and in the work place. He has taught me many lessons in life, religion, and business. I hope that I can continue to make him proud in my future decisions.

o Mark is the hardest worker in the family and one of my dad’s best friends
• The best memories that I have are the ones of the fishing excursions up to Alaska when we were younger. Grandpa Liston (Verdin) Paul, my older brother Bryan and then me, Mark. Our first trip up there I learned a lot about Paul and how adventurous he really was and no matter what happened it was always a good trip whether we brought fish home or not it was all about the experience and the time that we all spent together. Paul loved to go see new places and explore new things, whether it was a glacier or a mountain or a trail Paul always wanted to see everything that he could and get a picture of it while we were there so that he could share the memories with others, I loved spending time with My dad and Grandpa and brother.
• For the past 5 years I enjoyed working with him in the excavation company, Paul and I were always on the phone talking about the next job or the next equipment that we needed to buy to do the job, me and him grew really close and I am so glad that I was able to work with my dad through the last few years of his life, I learned so much from him, he was always happy and had a smile on his face no matter what was happening around him, He always had a great attitude about life nothing could ever get him down, no matter what the problem or outcome was he just kept on smiling that is what I am going to remember most about my dad.

o Jill is the roudy one with a heart of solid gold, and my dad’s first little girl
• I will always be my daddy’s little girl
• I admire him so much for everything he has been through and accomplished.
• My dad’s stubbornness is what has gotten him as far as he got in life.
• There in nothing he couldn’t do as long as he wanted it done.
• He has always been there to support me whether he approved of not, but he would always let us know his thoughts.
• My dad fought till his last breath just like he has for the past four years.
• I am so glad that he was so stubborn so that we could have him for as long as we did.
• It just is never enough when you love someone so much.
• My dad is my hero and always will be.

o Brad was my dad’s little boy and easiest child to raise He always seemed to go with the flow and seldom complained.
• When ever I think about my dad, I think about camping out under the stars. He loved to be out camping, going four-wheeling, or just being outdoors.
• We had so much fun as a family on all of the Lake Powell trips. With our Liston luck every time that we went we'd get rained out or blown away by the storms that ruined so many of our tents, but it wasn't quite a Powell trip with out it.
• I love thinking about how he always tried so hard to make the week that we spent at Powell the best possible. I think about his swim suit that was probably a few sizes to small, and that ugly old orange marshmallow life jacket of his; every time that he'd jump off the boat into the water we weren't sure if he was coming back up or not. Those are my favorite memories of and with my dad.
• I also remember when dad found patty; he was so excited. I remember him telling us about her, and his face was lit up with a smile. I can only hope to be half of the man that he was to her. Patty says that he Never, not once, raise his voice to her, and I'll take Patty’s word for it.
• My dad was honest in all of his work that and always set an amazing example to everyone around him. In his last few months he was so dedicated to figuring out what was going on inside of him that he kept him self busy even though he had retired and felt sick. He spent weeks searching for every bit of voodoo that claimed to cure cancer.; not only did he look, but he also tried every one of them he could get his hands on.
• Again, I hope that I can be like him, to be that dedicated in everything that I put my mind to, just all around he was one of the best men that I think a lot of us knew. He will be missed

o Kerri is Paul’s little baby and is the cutest and most studious child with a lot of potential.
• One thing that I will always remember about dad is he always worked hard for what he wanted. He taught all of us to be hard workers, no matter what it is that we are doing
• My dad had a sheep-skin rug in his room at the foot of his bed that I loved to sleep on till I was about 10. I have heard stories though that he used to do the same with his mom and dad, I guess that must be a youngest child thing to do.
• I always remember the fishing trips of the trips to lake Powell. We haven’t gone quite so often in the last year, but the times we did were still a lot of fun.
• I loved my dad, and still do. He was an amazing father.
• Paul’s children were his greatest joys. Most of us have worked side-by-side with our dad in many of the business adventures that he has been involved in.
• Paul has been referred to by many as The man with the golden finger. He was very successful in the businesses the he owned and managed. He operated A&P Craft and Paul Liston Custom Wood for 15 years. He had several employees that loved and adored him, mostly Women, but there were a lot of them.

• Paul met Patty Creer Kerecman on a blind date in February 2001. They both knew immediately that they wanted to share the rest of their lives together.
o Their marriage was solemnized in the Mount Timpanogos Temple on May 25th 2001.
o He then became a father to four more children and eventually 5 grand children.

• Together Patty and Paul started Western Oasis, which was also known as Paul Liston Excavation.
o The business grew quickly and was a great success as Paul continued to please customers
o When it comes to business Paul says
• “Make your own good luck, don’t wait for it to come to you.”
• “Work hard, work smart, and rely on the lord“

• My dad’s favorite overall hobby was travelling, be it for business for leisure. Some of the places that he has been to are:
o Tahiti
o Mexico
o Hawaii
o Alaska
o Canada
o The Caribbean
o And several countries in Europe

• One of his most memorable vacations was taking his father Verdin to Alaska along with my brother and I. We had a guide take us out on several fishing trips, and my brother Mark always seemed to catch the biggest fish; I don’t think that I ever caught the BIG one, but I sure had a great time with my dad, my grandpa, and my brother.

• Something funny about my dad is that he looked a lot like Paul Newman. A good story about this happened one evening when my dad was having dinner at the Chine Town restaurant in Provo.
o After he ordered, he couldn’t help but notice several of the employees talking and pointing in his direction.
o One of them finally approached after hearing someone call him Paul and said “We knew it, you are Paul Newman aren’t you.”
o My dad probably laughed as he was often mistaken as Paul Newman throughout his life, including his time spent in Pennsylvania as a missionary.
• He would tell stories about knocking on the doors and telling people that he was Paul. Many of them would assume that he was Paul Newman and let them in.
• Face it, if a guy came to your door that looked like Paul Newman and said that his name was Paul, wouldn’t you let him into you house, if nothing more than to give him a drink?
• My dad has been the greatest example when it comes to patience, honesty, patients, determination, patience, patience, patience, reliability, and respect.

• My dad was not just a dad; he was a friend, he was a good listener, and he was someone you could confide in, and trust.

• He had a firm testimony that there is life after death and that families can be together forever. He was a great example of someone having incredible faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• I love my dad and will continue to do so throughout the rest of my life.