Paul Berend, 76, a leader in the North Texas agricultural community and partner in Berend Brothers, died Sunday, October 18, 1992, at his home in Wichita Falls.

A Christian wake was held 7 p.m. Monday at Hampton-Vaughan Funeral Home. Services were 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Windthorst with the Rev. Raphael De Salve officiating. Burial was in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Berend, a lifelong area resident, was born December 3, 1915 in Windthorst. He was a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church and a graduate of Subiaco Academy in Arkansas. In 1939, he and brother Lawrence Berend took an $800 bank loan and began a hay-hauling business, servicing the region's many dairy farms during a drought. Today, Berend Brothers is a diversified livestock production and farm-and=ranch supply business with annual sales exceeding $20 million. In 1982, Berend received the Wichita County Friend of 4-H Award in recognition of fund-raising efforts for the construction of the f-H auditorium. He had also served as president of the Wichita County 4-H Livestock Association. Berend Brothers sponsored dairy shows in Windthorst from 1953 to 1974, from which the Dairy Herd Improvement Association took its beginnings.

The first Berend Brothers store in Windthorst was a converted house owned by Paul's mother-in-law. When the store outgrew the quarters, a 10-acre plot was purchased. The partnership's first hog and feeder cattle operation was established in the rear portion of the acreage. The business was incorporated in 1960, 21 years after it was established, when the second generation of Berends began assuming a management role.

Survivors include his wife, Madalen of Wichita Falls; a daughter, Hazel Kajs; four sons, Donald, Tom, Joe and Jim.
His brother, Lawrence; 16 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.