Paul Theodore Schandel
T/5 in 3133rd Signal Service Co
ASN#39273293
Born 1923 in MN, Died 2000
County of residence at enlistment: Los Angeles County, CA
Other residence(s): Little Falls, MN; Los Angeles, CA; Deland, FL; Denver, CO; Orlando, FL
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: semiskilled heat treaters, annealers, and temperers
College education after the war: Stetson
NOTE: His draft and enlistment records spell the name "Schandal" but all other records (birth, marriage, two different colleges, death) use "Schandel." We’ve used "Schandel" here, as that is also the version that is used by his family.
Paul Schandel was born on October 16, 1923 in Brainerd, MN, the third youngest of nine children. His father had been born in what is now Poland, his mother in Nebraska.
He grew up in Little Falls, MN, and, after graduating from high school, moved to Los Angeles to take a job as a semi-skilled heat treater at North American Aviation in Inglewood. NAA started building the B-25 Mitchell bomber right around the time Paul arrived in California.
He registered for the draft in June 1942, and enlisted six months later, on December 28, 1942. He was released from the army on February 4, 1946.
He married Ruth Lois Maxwell on December 21, 1946 in Florida. Ruth had graduated from high school in Deland, FL, and was attending Stetson University in Deland at the time, so Paul registered at Stetson as well. He spent at least two years there—presumably waiting until Ruth graduated. (She graduated with concentrations in Biology, Chemistry, German, and Music!) Then they relocated to Colorado, where Paul completed his degree at the University of Denver in 1950.
Paul and Ruth would go on to have four sons.
The family appears to have lived in Minnesota after that, but they relocated to Orlando, FL in 1960. Paul went to work as an electrical engineer at Martin Marietta, where, according to Stephanee Leech (daughter of a GA veteran who was a friend of Schandel's), he worked with NASA.
After their youngest child went to high school, Ruth took a job teaching marine biology and continued in that role for 17 years.
Paul died on March 8, 2000 in Orlando.
Photo:
1948 college yearbook (as sophomore) Stetson University
Sources:
1940 census
1942 draft card
1942 enlistment record
1946 marriage record
2000 Social Security death record
2000 VA death record
2000 death notice from Orlando Sentinel
https://www.newspapers.com/image/235734798/?terms=paul%2Bt%2Bschandel
2000 Find a Grave record
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128680059/paul-theodore-schandel
2009 wife obituary from Orlando Sentinel
https://www.newspapers.com/image/268582470/?terms=paul%2Bt%2Bschandel
2019 article about his son David; mentions that David was born in Minnesota ca 1956