Dr. Ouida Fay Paul Obituary (2016) - Gainesville, Florida

Dr. Ouida Fay Paul, age 105 passed away May 24, 2016 at the North Florida Retirement Village in Gainesville, where she had been a resident since 1995. She was the daughter of the late Reverend E.B Paul, a Methodist Minister in Alabama, and Eleanor Hinton Paul. Dr. Paul retired in 1977 from the University of Hawaii, where she taught music education and voice. She had formerly taught at the University of Florida and at Greensboro College, as well as in public schools in Alabama and Tennessee. She also served as choir director for Wesley United Methodist Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville. She received her A.B. degree in mathematics and English and a B.S. degree in music education from Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Alabama, and completed M.A. and Ed.D degrees in music and music education from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. She later took post-doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois. Dr. Paul received the distinction of listings in Men and Women of Hawaii, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in America, and several other biographical directories. In 1998 she received an Alumni Achievement Award from Huntingdon College. Her professional affiliations included the Music Educators National Conference, American Choral Directors Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Delta Kappa Gamma. In Gainesville, she was a member of University United Methodist Church, Altrusa International and Beta Sigma Phi. During her retirement years, Dr. Paul taught private voice and also tutored in reading skills under the auspices of Hawaii Literacy. She studied oil painting with Gloria Fosa, and has a number of her paintings in private collections. Soon after returning to Gainesville and taking up residence at The Village, she became involved in the musical life of the organization, where she was well-known for helping with numerous music programs and leading the Vespers choir, She is survived by "hanai" (Hawaiian for informally adopted) family, now consisting of a daughter, Noe Sagote of Hawaii and American Samoa, a son, Frank Nowasell of Iowa, three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great great-grandchild, as well as cousins in Virginia and South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Mrs. Freddie Paul Hope and hanai daughter, Donni Nowasell. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory are suggested to the Paul Scholarship Endowment Fund at Huntingdon College, 1500 E. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36106-2148, or the American Bible Society, PO Box 98010, Washington, DC 20077-7026.