Paul Hymes

Paul J. "P.J." Hymes, Sr., 80, of Rock Island, died Monday, August 3, 2009 at his home. Local visitation will be Friday from 4-7 pm at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, 3030-7th Avenue, Rock Island. Services will be 2 pm, Saturday at the Raymond Funeral Home, 112 W. Burlington Avenue, Fairfield, Iowa. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home in Fairfield. Burial will be in the Packwood Cemetery, Packwood Iowa. Memorials may be made to the Rock Island VFW Post No. 1303. Paul was born September 1, 1928, in Dean, Iowa, the son of Charley and Jennie Mae Harrett Hymes. He married Mary I. Mellott Hutton on June 25, 1949, at the Fifteenth Avenue Christian Church, Rock Island. She preceded her husband in death on November 23, 2001. Mr. Hymes, Sr., worked as a truck driver for various trucking firms in the Quad City area, most recently for, A & D Trucking, Bettendorf, Iowa. Retiring after over 50 years on the road. P.J., Sr. was also a master mechanic. He was a World War II United States Navy veteran serving on board the U.S.S. Newman K. Perry D.D. No. 883, with her home port in San Diego, California. P. J., Sr. operated in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. He also participated in America''s large scale testing program of the Atom Bomb in the Marshall Islands at Bikini Atoll. Mr. Hymes, Sr. was a Life Member of the Rock Island VFW Post No. 1303. Survivors include his children and their spouses, Margo Fetes, Moline, Elizabeth Blaska, Monticello, Minnesota, Paul J. "P.J." Hymes, Jr. and his wife, Donna, Katie Hymes-Riechers and her husband, Ben, Coon Rapids, Minnesota; 8 grandchildren; 9 great grandchildren; and his wife''s Boston Terrier, "Jubie"; Mr. Hymes, Sr. was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; brothers and sisters, Leonard, Mildred, Eldon, Melvon, Virgil, Thelma, and his twin sister, Pauline; and a son in law, Louis "Skip" Fetes III. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.wheelanpressly.com