Paul Bernard Little, 96, former resident of Brighton, Covington, and Memphis, Tennessee, passed away of natural causes on April 20, 2021, surrounded by his family at his son's home in Collierville, Tennessee. Paul was born on March 23, 1925, on a farm in Strawbridge, Pennsylvania, which had neither running water or electricity.
Several years later his family moved to Muncy, PA, where he became a standout wrestler, football player, and baseball player at Muncy High School. At age 17 he went to spring training in Florida for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team; but he joined the U. S. Navy in August of 1942.
He was assigned to train as a naval airman for amphibious PBY airplanes. After briefly serving on the East coast and in the Caribbean, he was stationed in the South Pacific in the Solomon Islands region in 1943-4 as a member of the famed "Rankins Raiders" PBY group, also known as the Black Cats. Among other citations and medals, he was awarded a Bronze Star by Admiral C. A. Nimitz in 1944. He was then sent to flight school, and when the war ended he completed specialized engineering training and returned to Muncy, PA, and married.
He and his wife Anna moved to Hughesville, PA. He was an active volunteer in Little League baseball and various other civic projects. He worked for Sylvania in Montoursville, PA, until 1964 when he moved his family to Huntsville, AL, to work for an engineering firm at Redstone Arsenal on NASA's Project Gemini. There he was involved with the communication system wiring on the space capsules. One of his tasks was to help develop, tune, and test a crystal-based technology that would allow light beams to be used as a means of communication between Earth-based centers and the space capsules. He then worked on various engineering projects in Lakeland, FL, Mobile, AL, and Greenville, SC. In the 1970s he moved to the Memphis area eventually working for Colonial Fiber Co. in Covington, TN, as plant engineer, from which he retired in 1987.
He was a founding member of the Cooper Mills Hunting Club near White Deer, PA, and active in VFW and American Legion groups in Covington and Germantown, TN. He also provided assistance to the Veteran's Park project in Surf City, NJ. During his last 5 years he resided in Memphis, TN.
He was preceded in death by: his wife of 59 years, Anna Elizabeth (McBride); his brothers, Earl and Bill Little; sister, Florence Reese; and parents, Virginia Elizabeth (Temple) and Walter Earl Little.
He is survived by: his brother, Bob Little of Muncy, PA; sister, Alice Miller of Montgomery, PA; and his children: Gerry and Lee Little of Surf City, NJ;, Paula and Dr. Travis Bolton of Albuquerque, NM; and Dr. Gregory and Dr. Lora Little of Collierville, TN; and four grandchildren: Elizabeth, Trevor, Matthew, and Lindsey.
Several years later his family moved to Muncy, PA, where he became a standout wrestler, football player, and baseball player at Muncy High School. At age 17 he went to spring training in Florida for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team; but he joined the U. S. Navy in August of 1942.
He was assigned to train as a naval airman for amphibious PBY airplanes. After briefly serving on the East coast and in the Caribbean, he was stationed in the South Pacific in the Solomon Islands region in 1943-4 as a member of the famed "Rankins Raiders" PBY group, also known as the Black Cats. Among other citations and medals, he was awarded a Bronze Star by Admiral C. A. Nimitz in 1944. He was then sent to flight school, and when the war ended he completed specialized engineering training and returned to Muncy, PA, and married.
He and his wife Anna moved to Hughesville, PA. He was an active volunteer in Little League baseball and various other civic projects. He worked for Sylvania in Montoursville, PA, until 1964 when he moved his family to Huntsville, AL, to work for an engineering firm at Redstone Arsenal on NASA's Project Gemini. There he was involved with the communication system wiring on the space capsules. One of his tasks was to help develop, tune, and test a crystal-based technology that would allow light beams to be used as a means of communication between Earth-based centers and the space capsules. He then worked on various engineering projects in Lakeland, FL, Mobile, AL, and Greenville, SC. In the 1970s he moved to the Memphis area eventually working for Colonial Fiber Co. in Covington, TN, as plant engineer, from which he retired in 1987.
He was a founding member of the Cooper Mills Hunting Club near White Deer, PA, and active in VFW and American Legion groups in Covington and Germantown, TN. He also provided assistance to the Veteran's Park project in Surf City, NJ. During his last 5 years he resided in Memphis, TN.
He was preceded in death by: his wife of 59 years, Anna Elizabeth (McBride); his brothers, Earl and Bill Little; sister, Florence Reese; and parents, Virginia Elizabeth (Temple) and Walter Earl Little.
He is survived by: his brother, Bob Little of Muncy, PA; sister, Alice Miller of Montgomery, PA; and his children: Gerry and Lee Little of Surf City, NJ;, Paula and Dr. Travis Bolton of Albuquerque, NM; and Dr. Gregory and Dr. Lora Little of Collierville, TN; and four grandchildren: Elizabeth, Trevor, Matthew, and Lindsey.
Paul Bernard Little, 96, former resident of Brighton, Covington, and Memphis, Tennessee, passed away of natural causes on April 20, 2021, surrounded by his family at his son's home in Collierville, Tennessee. Paul was born on March 23, 1925, on a farm in Strawbridge, Pennsylvania, which had neither running water or electricity.
Several years later his family moved to Muncy, PA, where he became a standout wrestler, football player, and baseball player at Muncy High School. At age 17 he went to spring training in Florida for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team; but he joined the U. S. Navy in August of 1942.
He was assigned to train as a naval airman for amphibious PBY airplanes. After briefly serving on the East coast and in the Caribbean, he was stationed in the South Pacific in the Solomon Islands region in 1943-4 as a member of the famed "Rankins Raiders" PBY group, also known as the Black Cats. Among other citations and medals, he was awarded a Bronze Star by Admiral C. A. Nimitz in 1944. He was then sent to flight school, and when the war ended he completed specialized engineering training and returned to Muncy, PA, and married.
He and his wife Anna moved to Hughesville, PA. He was an active volunteer in Little League baseball and various other civic projects. He worked for Sylvania in Montoursville, PA, until 1964 when he moved his family to Huntsville, AL, to work for an engineering firm at Redstone Arsenal on NASA's Project Gemini. There he was involved with the communication system wiring on the space capsules. One of his tasks was to help develop, tune, and test a crystal-based technology that would allow light beams to be used as a means of communication between Earth-based centers and the space capsules. He then worked on various engineering projects in Lakeland, FL, Mobile, AL, and Greenville, SC. In the 1970s he moved to the Memphis area eventually working for Colonial Fiber Co. in Covington, TN, as plant engineer, from which he retired in 1987.
He was a founding member of the Cooper Mills Hunting Club near White Deer, PA, and active in VFW and American Legion groups in Covington and Germantown, TN. He also provided assistance to the Veteran's Park project in Surf City, NJ. During his last 5 years he resided in Memphis, TN.
He was preceded in death by: his wife of 59 years, Anna Elizabeth (McBride); his brothers, Earl and Bill Little; sister, Florence Reese; and parents, Virginia Elizabeth (Temple) and Walter Earl Little.
He is survived by: his brother, Bob Little of Muncy, PA; sister, Alice Miller of Montgomery, PA; and his children: Gerry and Lee Little of Surf City, NJ;, Paula and Dr. Travis Bolton of Albuquerque, NM; and Dr. Gregory and Dr. Lora Little of Collierville, TN; and four grandchildren: Elizabeth, Trevor, Matthew, and Lindsey.
Several years later his family moved to Muncy, PA, where he became a standout wrestler, football player, and baseball player at Muncy High School. At age 17 he went to spring training in Florida for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team; but he joined the U. S. Navy in August of 1942.
He was assigned to train as a naval airman for amphibious PBY airplanes. After briefly serving on the East coast and in the Caribbean, he was stationed in the South Pacific in the Solomon Islands region in 1943-4 as a member of the famed "Rankins Raiders" PBY group, also known as the Black Cats. Among other citations and medals, he was awarded a Bronze Star by Admiral C. A. Nimitz in 1944. He was then sent to flight school, and when the war ended he completed specialized engineering training and returned to Muncy, PA, and married.
He and his wife Anna moved to Hughesville, PA. He was an active volunteer in Little League baseball and various other civic projects. He worked for Sylvania in Montoursville, PA, until 1964 when he moved his family to Huntsville, AL, to work for an engineering firm at Redstone Arsenal on NASA's Project Gemini. There he was involved with the communication system wiring on the space capsules. One of his tasks was to help develop, tune, and test a crystal-based technology that would allow light beams to be used as a means of communication between Earth-based centers and the space capsules. He then worked on various engineering projects in Lakeland, FL, Mobile, AL, and Greenville, SC. In the 1970s he moved to the Memphis area eventually working for Colonial Fiber Co. in Covington, TN, as plant engineer, from which he retired in 1987.
He was a founding member of the Cooper Mills Hunting Club near White Deer, PA, and active in VFW and American Legion groups in Covington and Germantown, TN. He also provided assistance to the Veteran's Park project in Surf City, NJ. During his last 5 years he resided in Memphis, TN.
He was preceded in death by: his wife of 59 years, Anna Elizabeth (McBride); his brothers, Earl and Bill Little; sister, Florence Reese; and parents, Virginia Elizabeth (Temple) and Walter Earl Little.
He is survived by: his brother, Bob Little of Muncy, PA; sister, Alice Miller of Montgomery, PA; and his children: Gerry and Lee Little of Surf City, NJ;, Paula and Dr. Travis Bolton of Albuquerque, NM; and Dr. Gregory and Dr. Lora Little of Collierville, TN; and four grandchildren: Elizabeth, Trevor, Matthew, and Lindsey.
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