Paul James Waller was born on July 27, 1925 in Marshall County, Kentucky. He grew up in the Reidland
community near Paducah in McCracken County, and graduated from the Reidland High School. He
lived the life of a farm boy. He enjoyed riding his bicycle and reading when he was not doing his farm
chores. His parents were strict disciplinarians. He had an older brother and a younger sister. His maternal
grandfather lived in the family home where Paul James grew up, "Pappy" as his grandfather was called,
was a widower, having lost his wife when she was a young woman. "Pappy" had to rear three children
(two girls and one boy) alone. "Pappy" was a faithful Christian and a daily Bible reader. When "Pappy"
was older he went to live with his oldest daughter, my grandmother, and her family.
Paul James ("Jamie" as his father called him), grew up in a home where God's word was exalted. His
mother took him and his siblings to worship faithfully before his father became a Christian. Later, due to
the influence of his godly wife (my grandmother, Ruth Stratton Waller), his father (my grandfather, Robert
F. Waller) obeyed the gospel, and after a few years, became an elder in the Lord's church. My
grandfather came out of denominationalism. He compared the teaching and preaching he heard in his
denomination with what he heard in the Lord's church (church of Christ). His conclusion was that he
heard very little Bible in his denomination, but he heard "book, chapter, and verse" Bible preaching that
was sound in doctrine from the gospel preachers in the Lord's church. And, what he heard from gospel
preachers was clearly God's truth. My grandfather was baptized into Christ in the Ohio River at Paducah.
The Waller home was a place where Christian brethren were always welcome, especially gospel
preachers. When the local congregation (the Clements Street church of Christ) conducted a Gospel
Meeting, the "meeting preacher" might stay in the Waller home for the duration of the meeting, which in
those days could easily be 10 days to two weeks. Many gospel preachers who were well-known to the
brotherhood stayed in their home or ate meals in their home. The children grew up in that kind of
atmosphere. There was great hospitality and hard work in that home. My father, Paul James, was
baptized in his youth. He attended Freed-Hardeman College, where he studied the Bible. His brother,
Robert M., also attended Freed-Hardeman College as did their sister, Dorothy. Robert became a gospel
preacher, and Dorothy married a gospel preacher, Ralph Steury.
After World War II began, Paul James was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was a conscientious objector,
so he was trained as a medic. He served in France and Germany as a medic, and later (after the war) as
an office worker, before being honorably discharged. Upon his discharge from the Army, he re-entered
Freed-Hardeman College. It was during this tenure in college that he met the woman he would marry. He
studied under such teachers as N.B. Hardeman, L.L. Brigance, W. Claude Hall, C.P. Roland, and other
notable Bible professors. He also studied at Murray State Teachers College, and Southwest Missouri
State College.
On December 9, 1947, Paul James and Floy Dell Myers were married at Hazel, Kentucky. James P.
Miller performed the wedding ceremony. To that marriage union there were born four children (one
daughter and three sons): Stephen, Monte, Eric, and Patrick. Paul Waller loved to preach the gospel. He
loved people, and he loved souls. He was friendly and knew how to relate to people, develop them as
friends and gain their respect. As a personal evangelist, he was outstanding and effective. He had the
uncanny ability to commit to memory the text of the script for each of the five Jule Miller Visualized
Bible Study Filmstrips and adapt them in his own style to each prospect as he showed each frame of the
filmstrips. He also used other effective methods of personal evangelism. As a pulpiteer he was powerful
and persuasive. His sermons were filled with Scripture. His ability to memorize and quote numerous
verses of Scripture in one sermon was amazing. He was very effective in restoring unfaithful brethren to
Christ through personal visits. He was a man of honesty, integrity, and high principle. He believed in
living for eternity and was always conscious of the frailty and uncertainty of life on earth. His teaching
and preaching reflected such. He spoke often of his desire to go to heaven. He believed and practiced
the principle taught by the apostle Paul, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16),
and "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time" (Col. 4:5). He spent very little
leisure time. He was very energetic, and most all his energies were expended from daylight until far into
the night serving the Lord. When he did take a little time off (which was rare), it was to go fishing. He was
a very good fisherman.
Paul J. Waller began preaching in 1946. He preached for the church at Sharpe, KY in two tenures as
the full-time preacher (1948-49) (1951-53). He also preached for the church in Aurora, MO; Johnston
and Dale in Springfield, MO; He preached in Wyandotte, MI at the 20th and Oak congregation from
1953-1958; and, the Kirkwood congregation in Atlanta, GA (1958-60). He began preaching for the Lord's
church in Trenton, MI in 1961 and was there from January 1 - April 1, 1961. On April 1, 1961, he
suffered a coronary embolism (blood clot in the heart) and died suddenly. He was only 35 years old.
Although his life was relatively short, and his preaching life was only about 15 years, he put much into it
and was dedicated to the Cause of Christ and the salvation of lost souls. He lived every day as though it
would be his last. He had more friends and influenced more people in his lifetime than he ever realized.
His influence upon young men to become gospel preachers was strong. Several young men who sat
and heard him preach also trained to become preachers. Among them were Windell Gann, J. Noel
Meredith, Royce Dickinson, and Dowell Flatt. Some of these young men were also influenced by
numerous other preachers and their own family members to become preachers. Obviously, his influence
on me was great.
A funeral service was held on Monday, April 3, 1961 at the church building in Trenton, MI. Hundreds of
people were present. Robert (Bob) Buchanan preached the funeral. All the preachers of the Detroit area
served as honorary pallbearers. At 2 P.M. Wednesday, April 5, 1961, another funeral service was held in
the building of the Clements Street church of Christ in Paducah, KY where his father served as an elder
for many years and where he grew up. Again, hundreds of people were present. The building could seat
400-500 people, but, so many people came to the funeral that there were no empty seats, and people
were standing around the walls and in the foyer. Lake Riley and E.L. Eubanks preached the funeral.
Burial was in the Benton Cemetery in Benton, KY on that rainy afternoon.
The inscription on his tombstone reads simply, "'Preach the word...' (2 Tim. 4:2)". These words of the
inspired apostle, Paul, were inscribed on a lacquered wooden plaque which adorned the wall behind
and above the pulpit in the old church building at 20th and Oak Streets in Wyandotte, Michigan. My
memory of that sign and its significance has been indelibly stamped into my heart. Every person who
ever entered that church building and worshiped there could not help but see that powerful charge to
the young evangelist, Timothy, and to all who would attempt to be preachers of the gospel of Christ
thereafter. It was the guiding principle of many preachers for many years who preached at Wyandotte. It
served to remind everyone that God's word -- and only God's word -- was to be preached from that pulpit
-- and it was to be obeyed by all.
"Preach the word...," epitomized the life of Paul J. Waller.
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