Paul Ronald Prober, age 78, passed away July 7 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Death was caused by cancer and other
natural causes.
Although his parents were living in Santa Barbara, Paul was born in Los Angeles on September 11, 1941. Paul was the oldest of four boys born to Harvey William Prober and Edythe Mae (Bell) Prober. For years the family lived a migrant life. Harvey worked for the Bridge and Building Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the family lived in a converted boxcar that was moved to wherever in California Harvey was working on a bridge, building, or seawall. This caused Paul and his brothers to change schools several times a year. The family finally settled in Azusa CA, where Paul graduated from Azusa High and Citrus Junior College.
Electronics was Paul’s vocation and passion. After enlisting in the Army he served as a radar specialist in Ankara, Turkey. He then had a long career at Raytheon in Goleta. Throughout his life he was an inveterate inventor. He was constantly working on his ideas and projects, many of which resulted in patents.
Paul met his future wife, Carol Ann Bedford, while both were still toddlers and their parents were neighbors. A photo of Paul and Carol splashing in a plastic kiddie pool is a family favorite. The parents ended up being lifelong friends, and Paul reconnected with Carol and started driving up to Santa Barbara to date her while still in high school. They married while Paul was at the end of his Army stint and they began their life together in Santa Barbara. For a while they divided their time between homes in Santa Barbara and Santa Fe. But to Paul’s great remorse, Carol suffered a stroke and died in 2016.
Paul was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Carol, and his brother Dennis. He is survived by his brothers Alan Prober and Gary Prober, his daughter Melissa Prober, his son Jeffery Prober, daughter-in-law Anna Prober, and his granddaughters Sofia and Ava Prober.
Due to the pandemic, there will be a family-only graveside service at Santa Barbara Cemetery.
2 comments
I am sorry Paul passed away recently. I was surprised. I talked to Paul occasionally and I was trying to get hold of him this past week. I went online to look for other phone numbers and found out Paul had passed. I worked with Paul at Raytheon for many years and Paul was a great teacher and associate. He was respected as a great analog Engineer. Even after retiring he kept his mind sharp designing Electoronics, Photography (3D) and flywheel power generation. He is in Heaven with Carol and he will be missed.
The name “Prober” rang a bell and reading through the obit found a wonderful history of the family and the Southern Pacific Railroad. I see several generations having been employed by the railroad and Alan Prober [Paul’s brother] was a bridge inspector who’s name kept coming up on the radio for a number of years. All good respected people within the Southern Pacific Railroad and the B&B Dept.
dlaro.
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