Paul E. Fillmore Jr.

May 29, 1946 -

Jun 18, 2025

Paul Everett Fillmore Jr. passed away on June 18, 2025, in Rochester, Wash. He was 79. Paul was born on May 29, 1946, to Bessie Anna and Paul E Fillmore in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The family moved to Eagle River, Alaska, in 1955. Paul always remembered this trip up the primitive Alcan Highway as one of his life's greatest adventures.

Paul enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and enthusiastically joined the submarine service, serving on the nuclear sub Francis Scott Key and the USS Entemedor as a radioman (RM2). He was discharged in 1979, and returned to his beloved Alaska. He worked a season in commercial fisheries out of Homer, briefly at Wien Air, communications staff on the North Slope, office supply/business machines and ultimately settled into a lifelong profession in information technology. He worked for Wang Laboratories, a pioneering computer and word processing giant. The State of Alaska employed Paul as an IT specialist and programmer until his retirement in 2013. He relocated to Washington state after retirement.

Paul was a skilled outdoorsman, metal fabricator and inventor who could build or fix just about anything in true self-reliant Alaskan style. He loved sailing his boat in Prince William Sound, building and running model steam locomotives, and ham radio (KL7FLR). He was affiliated with the Alaska Live Steamers and Maricopa Live Steamers and was an avid baseball fan. He generously supported public television and broadcasting. The family suggests memorial donations to local PBS or NPR broadcast stations.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents; and brother, Robert Dean Fillmore. He is survived by his partner of 12 years, Mary Christine Knutson of Rochester; and siblings, Mary Fillmore Walsh, Charles Fillmore and Norma Fillmore Schaefer, all of Grants Pass, Ore.