Paul Howard Luhrsen, born July 12, 1932 in Oak Park, to Myron and Eleonor Luhrsen, he died Monday, May 29, 2017, in Wheaton.

He was raised in Chicago and Elmhurst, and graduated from York High School in 1950. Paul attended the University of Illinois and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1954. He was a proud member of the Illini football team that won two Big Ten Championships and the 1952 Rose Bowl.  He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

On June 26, 1954, Paul married his college sweetheart, Marlene Kimbark of Cicero. After a brief stint in the Army, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Marlene and Paul moved to LaGrange Highlands, Ill., where Paul began a 35-year career with IBM.  Paul and Marlene had four children.  After five years in LaGrange, they moved to Wheaton, where they were active members of the First Presbyterian Church. They left Wheaton to follow Paul's IBM career through Endwell, N.Y., New Canaan, Conn. and Atlanta, Ga., where Paul retired as Vice President of Management Services.

While in Atlanta, they were active members of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, volunteers at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, members of the family selection committee of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and regulars at the Huntcliffe Tennis Club.

In 2001, they moved back to Wheaton to be closer to their children and grandchildren who all eventually also settled in Wheaton. They renewed their relationship with the First Presbyterian Church and were avid fans and supporters of their grandchildren's sports, music and school activities. Paul and Marlene traveled around the world on business trips with IBM and again with their grandchildren.  In retirement, Paul wrote six books and expanded on his model train hobby by building incredible garden railroads in Atlanta and Wheaton.  In 2006, Marlene and Paul built a cabin in northern Wisconsin near Rhinelander on land that has been in Marlene's family for over 90 years which will be enjoyed by the family for generations to come.  Marlene passed away in 2009.

In 2011 Paul married Joan Sharp Henning who had been a family friend for over 50 years.  Paul loved Joan and her family and enjoyed getting to know a whole new set of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren with her.  Paul and Joan had great times together traveling by train, visiting family and old friends around the country and making new friends together at Wyndemere.

Paul was a leader, a role model, and an example for all who had the good fortune to meet him as a son, friend, father, fan, co-worker, manager, neighbor, teammate, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather, and a spouse.  He lived life to the fullest with never ending positive energy, optimism, and enthusiasm.

Paul is survived by his wife, Joan; and his four children and their families, Dane and Mary Beth (Brennan) Luhrsen – Katie (Luhrsen) and Steven Keown (Michael, Anna), John, Annie and Eric, Heidi (Luhrsen) and Robert Gagnon - Jacqueline (Gagnon) and Matt Sinclair (Charlotte, Sean), Julie (Gagnon) and Will Noble (Liam, Liv), Megan (Gagnon) and David Goebel (Henry) and Morgan, Tyra Luhrsen - Jule, Kris and Diane (Terveer) Luhrsen - Janee, Paul and Luke and Joan's three children and their families, John Charles Sharp - Cynthia, James Sharp – Tyler, Connor, Molly (Sharp) and Corey Reynolds (July, Juniper), John and Jeanie (Sharp) Negley – Carolyn (Negley) and Isaac Ezell (Sage, Glory, Oaks), Christin (Negley) and Ben Humeniuk (Ellie, Peter), John William and James and Elizabeth (Ayers) Negley.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Marlene.

Funeral services for Paul Howard Luhrsen, 84, will be held at 10:00 a.m., June 29, at the First Presbyterian Church, 715 N. Carlton St., Wheaton. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., June 28, at the First Presbyterian Church.  The family will have an interment in Newbold Cemetery near Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

His family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations are sent to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International , 26 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004, American Cancer Society, or the First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton.