Meet one of Our Oldest Owners in ORPS P AUL H ARBACH 101 years old Lot 1071 by Lois Campbell
Eventually Paul and Barbara moved to a golf course and three acres of land near Hemet. His son lives in this home to this day and still goes out walking in the evening to look for golf balls which he then brings down to his Dad. Paul and Barbara eventually moved to a place in Laguna Beach, by a golf course and in 1980 he and Barbara bought their place at ORPS. The golf course was just nine holes long and #11 was #1. Paul's love of golf continued as did his weekly play of the Tuesday and Thursday scrambles and his Saturday golf. He and Barbara also spent a lot of time enjoying dancing at Outdoor Resort. When asked what he loved most about Outdoor Resorts his first answer was "the golf of course" next came “the kind people and the beauty of the place.” If any of you have ever wondered how to get to 101 and still be as good looking and sharp as Paul, he says it helps to have good genes. He has two sisters who both lived to be over 100. He also believes that the key to long life is to not worry about things. Paul and Barbara had two children. He still has a son and a son in law, and two grandchildren, Parker and Leah. You will often see them visiting Paul. For those of you that have had the pleasure to golf with Paul I’m sure you appreciate his wisdom and his golf game. In speaking with him for this interview we remembered many of the long birdie putts he can still make. At 101 he is still a competitive golfer and loves a good shot. He will be leaving here at the end of April to join his other golfing buddies down at his golf course in Laguna Beach. Paul is an inspiration to us to keep moving and enjoy the moment.
Paul was born 1914 in Sandy, Utah and as a child he and his family moved to many different places. At age 21 Paul moved to Los Angeles and got a job as a furniture maker. He soon bought a house and found he was lonely so invited his family to come stay with him. Soon he had his mother, sister and two brothers keeping him company. Once Paul married his wife, Barbara, other arrangements were made. Paul enlisted in the Navy immediately after Pearl Harbor but because of his color blindness he could not be part of a ship crew. Instead, as a CB, he was enlisted to build air fields, barracks etc. At one point the Navy asked for a volunteer to build 800 lockers for the barracks. Paul always energetic, volunteered and built all 800 of them. This ensured he was moved from second class to first class and then on to Chief Petty Officer. When Paul retired from the Navy he continued on with his building and over the course of his career built many buildings including a shopping center. He was not only the general contractor, he also was often the skilled labor many of his buildings. One story was when breaking huge boulders to use as decoration on the front of his building he uncovered a fossil of a fish which to this day is still on the front of that building. Paul and his wife, Barbara, raised the two children in San Pedro where he continued to work as a contractor. It was at this time Paul fell in love with playing golf. He and Barbara moved to a different home that had a beautiful view of the ocean. They bought a motorhome (FMC) and started travelling. Gas was much cheaper then although it was not the eight cents it was when Paul first started driving. One memorable motorhome trip was to Victoria, Canada via a ferry. While everyone else went to the famous Bouchart Gardens, Paul went to the golf course. Paul also flew his own airplane, often to their place in Bullhead City where they spent a lot of time waterskiing. Continued in the next column.
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