Alvin Rayburn Paden (88) passed away on June 12, 2019 exactly two weeks to the day after the death of his beloved wife of 65 years, JoAn Haik Pade. Alvin was born on July 12, 1930 in Leedy, Oklahoma. He grew up in Newport, Oregon, and attended Newport High School where he was a quarterback on the football team, senior class president, and participated in the local chapter of DeMolay International. After graduation Al joined the United States Air Force and was trained as a radio electronics technician. He was deployed to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, where he eventually met the love of his life while dinning at her parent’s restaurant, Sprint Creek Lodge, in Chugiak, Alaska. After his honorable discharge in 1952, Alvin remained in Anchorage working as a surveyor until he married JoAn on August 13, 1953. Immediately after their wedding, Al and JoAn moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where he took advantage of the GI Bill to complete his BS degree in Electrical Engineering in 1957.
After graduating Al worked briefly for Motorola in Phoenix, Arizona, before taking a position with the Raytheon Company in Goleta, California in 1959. Al worked at Raytheon on various defense projects until his retirement in 1992. After retirement, Alvin explored several business opportunities, ultimately co-founding an engineering R&D company, LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc., in 1992 with his two sons, Brad and Dave Paden. JoAn joined the company in 1998.
Alvin was a very hard working. When he wasn’t at Raytheon, he was working on his home or taking his family camping or hiking. He enjoyed the Boys Scouts of America as an Asst. Scout Master for his eldest don, Brad, and went to all the football games of his younger son, Dave, who was a running back for the Dos Pueblos Chargers. AL and JoAn enjoyed many trips on their own and with their children throughout their lifetime. For their 25th Anniversary they backpacked alone for 3 weeks on the island of Hawaii and for their 50th Anniversary they took all of their children and grandchildren to Kauai.
Alvin valued higher education as a vehicle for success. All of his children attended college, of which he was very proud: Brad Paden (PhD in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley); Cindy Paden (PhD in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego); Janet Ellison (BS in Nursing from San Francisco State University); and Dave Paden (BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo). Alvin even had a custom license plate to brag about it (if you could understand it!) MERNPHD.
Alvin was predeceased by his fraternal twin brother, Melvin (who died at 18 as the result of drowning accident while serving in the US Marines), as well as his parents, J. Frank Paden and Maude Inez (Thames) Paden, and siblings, Frank Jr., Joyce (Ash, Monroe), and James. In addition to his 4 children, Alvin leaves behind 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren (with more in the sway!). His eternal optimism, unrelenting support, and ‘Just Do It’ attitude will be remember by all who knew him.
A joint service for Alvin and his wife JoAn will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 19, at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the American Heart Association or Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of
Santa Barbara.
