Paul Rabenold
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Following a 2-year battle with esophageal cancer, Paul John Rabenold went from life with us to life with his Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the morning of Sunday, November 21, 2021. Paul was born in Bethlehem, PA on April 1, 1942, to Carl and Mamie Rabenold. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Leda, and five of his six children, George (Kris), Ted (Kim), Traci (Dan) Stauffer, Todd (Sandra), and Tara (Mike) Dean. Daughter Taryn died in 1975 at the age of 3 months. He has 16 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, a sister Della Kern and 4 nieces and their families.
Paul was a natural in many sports. He ran track and wrestled in high school, enjoyed bike riding and running as an adult. His military service was in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Paul's business career (and hobby) was Information Technology. He loved learning about all aspects and functions of computers since the age of mainframes, for which he learned various programming languages, through to today's personal computers. He taught computing and held IT positions in several companies in Pennsylvania.
A 'church person' since childhood, Paul came to know the Lord as his personal savior around the age of 40 through the witness of a friend. Growing in his new-found faith, the verse of Scripture, Ephesians 2:10 (We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do) became important. Learning of the need of computer expertise in missions, he applied for missionary service with Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1996. There he worked with translation technology for 18 years in Texas, North Carolina and Florida. He served as a deacon, elder, worked in the sound room and taught classes in the churches he attended.
Paul and Leda moved to The Villages in 2008 where he's known fondly by many as 'My Computer Guy.' For 5 years he enjoyed his time as president of The Villages Computer Club, and he continued to help Villagers with computer issues until the current pandemic and his illness prevented him from going into their homes.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Monday, December 13 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church at The Villages, 16523 SE 76th Chatham Ave, The Villages, FL 32162.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators (wycliffe.org) or Cornerstone Hospice Foundation (cornerstonehospice.org)