Paul Robert Bostrom, beloved son, husband, brother, step father, uncle, great uncle and friend, went home to Jesus on April 30, 2023 after a short battle with pneumonia and COVID and a very long battle with COPD, chronic back pain, and other maladies. He was alert and at peace at the end and Dan and Mary were able to be with him, despite all three having COVID.

Paul was born to Ardie and Bob Bostrom on December 15, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He lived in the town of Richfield, Minnesota until the age of 10 when he moved with his family to the Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley. Paul attended Robbinsdale High School briefly before transferring to Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis and graduating in 1968.

After a year at Gustavus Adolphus College, Paul moved with his family to Anaheim, California in 1970. Paul eventually made it to the central California town of San Luis Obispo, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly in about 1975. Paul fell in love with the San Luis Obispo area and stayed until 2018, when poor health resulted in his move to Tampa, Florida to live with his younger brother Dan, and Dan’s wife Mary. The three of them then moved back to Minnesota in 2020.

Paul spent more than 45 years in the San Luis Obispo area, working mostly as an independent contractor. He was married to Jackie Bloom from 1980-94 and together they enjoyed gardening, rabbits, dogs, and raising Jackie’s son, Clark Bloom. Paul enjoyed several close relationships in his later years, none more precious to him than with stepson Clark Bloom, Jacob Barkley, who he knew since Jacob’s birth, and friend Kenton Russell, who he met in college and stayed close to throughout his life.

Though Paul often declared he was “a slower pace guy” (he took a measure of pride in saying his greatest skill was procrastination), he made many friends along the way. Throughout his life, Paul is remembered for his kindness and willingness to help others, his quick wit and wry humor, his love for tie-dyed tee shirts, his near obsession with Bob Dylan and 60’s music, and his seemingly infinite knowledge of 1960’s trivia and how to fix things.

During his last few years, Paul was able to get to know his great nieces and nephews and was especially enamored of Lainey, now 1-1/2. They would fist bump, high five, and she would point to him (or his door if it was closed) and say “Pow”. She’s still saying “Pow” and wonders where he is. But we know – he’s with Jesus.

If you would like to do something in memory of Paul, do what makes your heart glad. Here are some ideas:

Wear tie dye and eat Sloppy Joes (made with a can of Manwich, of course)

Support your local AA chapter in some way

Help out someone in need in any way you can

Go to church and talk to God, preferably a church with organ music and old hymns

Listen to some Dylan

Watch the 6 o’clock news LIVE (we think this is a weird idea, but Paul was adamant)

Play trivia with someone. Assume that Paul would know all the answers or could (and would) at least fake it

Paul was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Ardis Bostrom and is survived by his brother, Dan (Mary) Bostrom; nieces and nephew Elizabeth (Curtis) Partin, Greg (Sarah) Bostrom, and Emily (Tim) Puchner; great-nieces and great-nephews Marlee, Finley, and Adelaine “Lainey” Partin and Sawyer, Theodore “Teddy”, and Noah Bostrom; ex-wife Jackie Bloom, stepson Clark (Kim) Bloom and step-granddaughter Tia Bloom.

A final thought about my brother. In the end, at the hospital when Paul and I made the joint decision to turn off his BiPAP machine that was breathing for him (he was lucid at the time and asked the nurse to turn it off), and as they bumped up the morphine so he was in no pain, Mary and I took hold of Paul’s hands. Mary started crying. Paul said “Don’t cry, Mary. This is how it’s supposed to go”. He was more concerned for her than himself. He turned to me and asked “Will things just slow down now?” I assured him that he would just fall asleep and it was ok to let go, this was the time. He passed into the loving arms of his heavenly Father shortly after that.

PS – if we got any of the “facts” about Paul wrong, well, just live with it. We tried. Signing off as Paul always did in his emails: love, peace, and laughter. Rest easy, brother. You are missed. Love, Dan

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