Paul Allen Book

Paul Allen Book was born February 4, 1936 to Delbert Herman Book and Alma Grace Hunt. He had one brother, Herman Book and one sister, Jeraldine (Book) Cambron. He grew up in Tipton and graduated from Tipton High School in 1954. Paul was on the football team and worked at the local paper. After high school, Paul married his high school sweetheart Rosemary Shaw and had three beautiful daughters, Debbie (Book) Ling, Paula (Book) Walkup, and Rhonda (Book) Yegerlehner.

Paul worked at Chrysler and was learning to be a tool maker before he enlisted in the Army. He went to boot camp at Fort Benning, Georgia and then deployed to Germany.

Upon returning from Germany, Paul owned three bars in Kokomo and became involved with the Indiana State Police and was involved in a number of undercover operations in support of the State Police. In fact, Paul's work was so instrumental to the Indiana State Police anti-gang/extremists activities in the 1960s and 1970s that Paul is being honored in a display at the Indiana State Police Museum off Post Road in Indianapolis.

During the 1970's Paul met Alice Grimes and her daughter Rachel. Paul and Alice were later married on October 10, 1989 and they had another daughter, Pauletta (Book) Pharis. As Paul always said, he made his contribution to the feminist movement; he had five daughters. As the decade progressed Paul continued to write for detective magazines and did undercover work, including work to support Jeff McDonald.

In the 1980's, Paul decided to go back to school earning an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Ball State and proudly testing out of most of his classes due to his experience working in criminal justice. He then earned a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice from Indiana University – Kokomo.

After completing his degrees, Paul moved to Florida to be a probation/parole officer with the State of Florida. He then moved back to Indiana and starting working for the State. He worked in child protective services, the Indiana Women's Prison, and the Department of Corrections, retiring as the Program Manager for the State of Indiana's Community Correction Program. After retiring, Paul continued his public service working as a jailer at the Tipton County Jail.

Paul was an avid reader and writer. He wrote several poetry books which he published and even a children's story retelling a story from his youth. He also enjoyed a hobby DJing, referring to himself as "Professor Paul and his Magic Music Machine" where he played music in a 1950s hot pink Cadillac. He also tried several other businesses and was always looking for the next fun thing to try from arcades to Computa-foto. He was a true entrepreneur.

Paul loved to travel and hoped one day to travel the country in an Air Stream camper. And while he never got the opportunity to travel the country in his personal camper, he did have the opportunity to travel a bit. He, Alice, and the kids made frequent trips to Florida to visit Paul’s mother and her husband Harold Roberts. They traveled to Canada, New York, Texas, Las Vegas, Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Missouri, and made frequent trips to Washington, DC and Virginia to visit their daughter Pauletta and her family.

While Alice may not have been Paul's first love, she was definitely his last. And through their 43 years together, they had many adventures. They travelled and raised their children and grandchildren and they took care of each other. On October 10, they would’ve celebrated their wedding anniversary. In the last few years of his life, Paul hated the thought of being away from Alice for any length of time. And Alice stood by his side when he developed complications due to surgery in May 2015. The doctors didn't believe he was going to pull through in May but he did make great strides and progress in his rehabilitation with Alice nudging him along the whole way. Unfortunately on the morning of September 30, 2015 Paul succumbed to cardiac arrest and passed away at St Joseph Hospital in Kokomo with Alice not far away waiting for him with the plans to bring him home from the rehabilitation facility on Saturday, October 3.

Paul is preceded in death by his parents Alma Grace Roberts and Delbert Herman Book, his first wife Rosemary, and his granddaughter, Bailey Book Pharis.

Paul is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Alice Book, Kempton; his brother Herman Book, Kempton; his sister Jeraldine Cambron and her husband George Cambron, Russiaville; his daughters Debbie Ling and her husband Hau Ling, Waterloo, Paula Walkup, Greenwood, Rhonda Yegerlehner, Ocean Springs, MS, Rachel Grimes, Fulton, MO, and Pauletta Book-Pharis and her husband CDR Wil Pharis (US Navy Retired), Fredericksburg, VA; his grandchildren Stephanie Majors, Cicero, Terry Baker, Noblesville, Ming Ling and his wife Holly Ling, Anderson, Dedra Ling, Key West, FL, Zachary Walkup, New Whiteland, Brad Cherry and his wife Elizabeth Cherry, Ocean Springs, MS, Amanda Cherry, Indianapolis, Nikki Bybee, Frankfort, Cameron McKinney, Auxvasse, MO, Grayson Pharis, Fredericksburg, VA, and Atticus Pharis, Fredericksburg, VA. Paul is also survived by 14 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 5 at Young-Nichols Funeral Home in Tipton with burial to follow at Fairview Cemetery with military honors. The viewing will be from 2:00-6:00 p.m. on Sunday. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 3816 Paysphere Circle, Chicago, Illinois, 60674.