In memory of Richard R. Paseman (Dick) born February 28, 1926 in Saginaw Michigan and died on August 11, 2009 in Houston Texas from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.
Immediately after graduating from Henry Ford Trade School in June 1944, he joined the Merchant Marine and made his last trip from New York City in June 1950 to come to Houston, Texas.
Dick was a licensed steeple jack in New York and worked for Industrial Painting Contractors in Texas. His work experience gave him a competitive edge when he and John Goss formed the American Powerstage Company in January 1960. They designed and manufactured power driven stages, rigging devices and also the American Water Blaster, all of which were acquired by Weatherford International.
Dick formed the American Powerlance Company in 1979, which had patents on a device to clean the tube side of heat exchangers, and he was proud of the fact that Powerlances were working in 27 foreign countries when he sold the company in 1995.
The Houston Coating Society, Industrial Maintenance Institute and Water Jet Technology Association honored his contributions to the industrial maintenance industry.
Because of his union activities in the 1940's, he was investigated by the F.B.I., but they finally closed his file in 1960.
After retirement at age 70, he was a supporter of Ross Perot and in 1996 was Harris County chairman for the Reform Party.
As an investor, landlord, inventor and small business man, he was always grateful that his parents immigrated to this country. Dick did what he could to improve the country and help his fellow workers.
Preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Hilda Paseman, brother Bill Douglass, ex-wife Waltraud Paseman and a number of good friends, he leaves his sons Bill and Gerhard, grandchildren Raymond, Sabrina, Katherine and Richard, and best friend for 26 years, Jeannine M. Berube.
Dick will be remembered for his great kindness and generosity to his many friends, for the many charities which he supported and for his love of his Siamese cat, Annie Pannie, a companion for over 18 years.
Dick was cremated and his ashes were spread at sea off the coast of Florida. You can remember him by doing "a little bit more" for the organization of your choice.
Special thanks for the love and support of his friends: James Langley, Victor Baham and Robert Sims. Also to Dr. Badu and Nurse Thornton who treated Dick for several years at the V.A. hospital. Also, thanks to the hospice care providers at the V.A. hospital.
We had a memorial from 11:00 to 1:30 am on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at Brady's Landing Restaurant (8505 Cypress) to honor Dick. It was a place, as Dad would say, "where the rich people eat". Special thanks to James Langley and Jeannine Berube for suggesting the location. Some of the attendees had not seen each other for 20 or more years. As such, no one even sat down for the first 30 minutes or so, since they were busy getting re-acquainted. The room was overflowing and everyone had an exceptionally good time, reminiscing and recalling stories about him.
Often, when my father would visit someone in the hospital, he would spray paint a beer bottle and put in a flower, so every table had a beer bottle with a rose. Gerhard and I made a (56 megabyte) Memorial Handout for the occasion. Also, we brought Dad's two cases of H. Ross Perot books to give to the attendees.
Randy Kruger, who was not able to attend, expressed the same sentiment that John Goss used in his toast: "Dick was a unique individual and a very fine person. He was one of the most honest and honorable men I ever knew. He never was afraid to take a stand on something he believed in."
Here is a slideshow of the guests. Videos are below. Below are links to pictures of most of those who attended in 3 megabyte jpg format. (New) here is a picasa album.
Wayne Pruitt worked with Dick in April 2008 on "The Dick Paseman Project", a history of the Coating Society, an industrial maintenance support organization.
When I was 14, I started helping Dad do his particular style of industrial maintenance work: "water blasting". A water blaster sprays a stream of water that can cut through lumber about as fast as an electric saw. It has a pistol grip and a trigger to control the water flow. Like a "real life" ray gun, anything you point at gets blasted away: rust, paint, asphalt; even fingers and toes if you aren't careful. I enjoyed the physical nature of the work. At 17, I worked for Dad on my best paying job: water blasting coke deposits inside a boiler's pre-heater. We lay on wooden boards placed on top of the heater's metal fins while working inside a 2 foot crawl space. The fins were so hot, the water would flash into steam as soon as the water hit them. You sweated quite a bit but if you braced yourself properly it was "easy money" and relatively light work (as long as you stayed on the boards). The most dangerous job Dad gave me was water blasting asphalt off a concrete slab. I stood on the slab, held the lance with my shoulder and pointed it near my feet, moving it back and forth, back and forth 8 hours a day. Back and forth, back and forth 6 days a week. Back and forth, back and forth until the job was done. The monotony was tough for me to handle. I had trouble paying attention through an entire shift and I was lucky to leave the job without blowing any toes off. Dad could pay attention for the entire shift. It is humbling to discover your co-workers (and especially your father) can do stuff you can't, but it drove home why the only feedback he ever gave me was to "pay attention" and "do your best". "Paying attention" meant you survived the day. "Doing your best" meant you (usually) had a job tomorrow. Dad always did both. It allowed him to climb towers that no one else would climb and to survive the early days of the industry, when sandblasting was done on the tops of towers and bridges without a mask, without goggles and without a safety harness.
Wayne Pruitt kindly supplied the links below. A slideshow of this content is here.
A few months before Dad died, he mentioned that his next door neighbor Sandra had done a short biography on him for a school project. Dad was pleased she had asked him, and proud she had gotten an "A". I asked her to send it to me. Here it is.
I decided to interview my 83 year old neighbor Richard Paseman . He
is a navy veteran, and I chose him because I think he is a very
interesting person
with many different experiences in life. Mr. Paseman was born on
February 28, 1926 in Saginaw Michigan. He later moved to Detroit
Michigan and went to elementary school there. He talks about how he
remembers moving about five different times whenever the rent was
due. In 1940 he graduated from the 8th grade. His family decided to
move to Texas in 1940. He was excited he was going to start 9th
grade in Edison high school which is now a middle school. He had a
conflict with the principal, the principal wanted to place him in
the 8th grade again but he said he did not need to take the 8th
grade again so he dropped out of school. Mr. Paseman's father told
him he needs to work if he is not going to go to school. Mr. Paseman
decided to go to trade school for three years. He went to Henry Ford
trade school in Michigan. In 1943 he joined the Navy. He made 45
cents per hour. They also gave them bonuses whenever there was a war
zone, or when they dropped a bomb around them. He traveled to many
different places like South America, The Mediterranean, France,
Italy, and North Africa. He said he was very active in The Union, he
was a very outspoken guy which lead the FBI to investigate him from
1947-1960 because they thought he was a communist. In 1953 he met a
German girl and married her in 1954. He had two sons with her.. In
1960 he started his company called American Powerstage Company, they
made machines for window washing, equipment to make bridges, and
also made high pressure washers. He was very successful in his
business. He got divorced in 1976. So he moved to the house which he
still lives in, his father built that house and left it for him. His
father bought the land in which the house stands with his war bonds
that he used to send his dad. At first he was upset because he
thought his father had done a foolish thing, he wanted to buy a car
instead of land but Mr. Paseman says it is the best thing that ever
happened to him. Mr Paseman is about 83 years old and I have been
knowing him all my life since I was a baby. I am thankful that I
have him as a neighbor because he has always been good to me and my
family and I am going to miss him very much when he is not around.
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My father visited my in-laws whenever he was in California. Here are the votive candles lit for him by my mother-in-law Clare and her two sisters, Auntie Sui Mui and family and Auntie Olga and family.
