Paul K. Travous of Saint Charles, MO, passed away at the age of 61 on Saturday, May 8, 2021. Loving husband of 33 years to Juliette Travous; devoted father of Kaitlin (Kevin) Gill and William (Abigail) Travous; cherished grandfather of Jason Gill; dearest brother of Kathy Morganstern, Ken (Kathy) Travous, Sue (Dave) Hoffmann, and the late Sharon Gottschall; dear brother-in-law of Ken Gottschall, Gene Chmielewski, Matthew Chmielewski, and Anna Anderson. Paul was also preceded in death by his parents, Odell and Anna Travous; and his sister-in-law, Emma Lee Heller.
Paul began his career with a degree in Chemistry and worked for Hazardous Waste Remediation, where he met his wife. He then decided to study law, and he attended St. Louis University Law School. He was incredibly smart and passed both the Missouri and Illinois Bars.
Paul was very active as a Boy Scout leader with his son and was given the St. George medal by the Boy Scouts. He was a certified NRA Firearms instructor and taught firearm safety to the St. Charles Boy Scouts and the Jaycees in Belleville, IL. Paul and his son, Will, went to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico for ten days and they went hiking and camping.
As a true outdoorsman, Paul loved fishing, hunting, gardening, and boating. He looked forward to fishing trips to Canada, which started as a once in a lifetime trip and turned into 15 trips in his life. While in college he canoed from Champagne IL at the Kaskaskia Ditch down the river to Fayetteville. He liked to venture to the woods on the weekends to go deer hunting with his buddies, and he also went antelope hunting one year.
Paul cherished time with his family and he loved to go to Bull Shoals Lake with them. He coached little league baseball for his son's team for several years. He could do just about anything, and was known as the Renaissance Man. He could fix anything, build anything, repair anything, and was very talented with repairing vehicles.
He liked sports and enjoyed watching football and hockey and golf, and he looked forward to watching the Olympics. He enjoyed curling up with a good book and was recently working his way through Mark Twain's Autobiography. He also liked to watch home renovation shows. And, he loved working with wood and making furniture and carvings, and he built a beautiful oak buffet for their house.
Paul was an all-around good guy, and everyone loved to be around him. He was so easy-going and such a nice guy who was famous for his "Dad" jokes. His daughter, Kaitlin, is carrying on with the “Dad” jokes, which would make him proud.
Memorial contributions may be made in Paul's name to Boy Scouts Troop 351 at St. Charles Borromeo or
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Services: The family is served by Baue Funeral Home, 620 Jefferson St., where there will be a Visitation on Friday, May 21 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. Funeral Mass on Saturday, May 22 at 10:00 am, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 601 N. Fourth Street. Visit Baue.com
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