Paul Barrett Finegan

Paul Barrett Finegan 92, was born to Eternal Life on April 22, 2024.

He was born at home on March 2, 1932 in Glenolden, PA, he graduated from Trenton Catholic Boys High School in 1950. While a student there, he set the school and State record for pole vaulting in 1949.

Paul enlisted in the Army National Guard on his 17th birthday, but later transferred to the Naval Reserve to be with his classmates. When he was not called to active duty after the Korean War began, he left college and enlisted in the US Navy on January 9th, 1951. Many years later in 1972, he reenlisted in the National Guard and served for an additional 17 years, retiring with a total of 21 years in 1989.

He met his wife, Virginia, in 1951, in Memphis, TN. They were married on June 28th, 1952 in St Edward’s Chapel, Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL.
God blessed them with seven children: Mary, Paul, Frances, Sheila, Sean, Peter, and Winifred, 13 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

Paul was a teacher for 37 years in New Jersey, New Hampshire, and nine years at McDowell Community College in Marion. He was a loving husband and father who worked hard for his family so that his wife could stay home as a full time mother.

After retiring from teaching in 1994, he worked every Wednesday building houses for Habitat for Humanity. He loved life, liked funny stories from Paul Harvey and tried to live his life based on the Bible passage, “Be doers of the word, not hearers only.” Paul was proud to have participated in the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963 and for having donating 111 pints of blood until he was stopped by cancer.

A funeral mass for family and friends will be celebrated at St. Joan of Arc Church, 768 Asbury Rd, Candler, NC on Friday, June 14, at 11:00 a.m. with a reception at the church following. Military burial will take place at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, Black Mountain, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that you please make a donation to Habitat for Humanity, 33 Meadow Rd, Asheville, NC 28803.