Knox and Blount counties have lost another member of The Greatest Generation. Paul Abbott passed away May 20, 2023, at age 96. A graveside service will be held at the Pavilion of Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, Tennessee, at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 26. A celebration of life service will be held later at Cedar Lane UMC.
Paul and Lorraine Abbott met at Maryville College just after World War II. Paul was attending on the G.I. Bill after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Lorraine Swift had ridden to Maryville on a train from Oklahoma.
After she graduated, they were married in May 1948.
Paul transferred to the University of Tennessee, where he earned a degree in mathematics in 1956. He also pursued post-graduate studies in advanced statistics, quality control and advanced business statistics.
Beginning in 1948, Lorraine embarked on a long career as a technical writer and editor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, focusing efforts on reactor shielding. In 1986, she retired from ORNL and began a second career as the founder and leader of a technical communications company that focused primarily on the oil and gas industry. She retired from that second career in 2016 at the age of 90.
Paul worked during and after college as a statistical analyst for the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). He then began a long-term career focusing on management, quality control and continuous improvement within the apparel industry. For the last eight years of his career, ending in 1991, he served as the president of Summit Apparel Corporation in Knoxville.
The couple joined Inskip Methodist Church (now Cedar Lane UMC) in 1952 and remained members until their deaths. The Greatest Generation is not known for hopping around.
Lorraine served on the board of directors of Partners for Children, a nonprofit child development center located at the church, and the family asked that memorial donations be made to the church or the center, both at 714 Cedar Lane, Knoxville 37912.
What a steadfast couple. Married for 73 years, members of the same church for 70 years. Both left a family and many friends. Paul’s full obituary is here.