By Elizabeth Evans
The York Dispatch
SPRING LAKE, N.C. — Paul Ivan Boyer III lived a life of service not only as a police officer, firefighter and paramedic, but also as a servant of God.
His two missions were closely connected, according to his sister, Jan Boyer of Durham, N.C.
“It was a calling from God,” she said of his paramedic work. “From 1974 on, that’s what he wanted to do with his life.”
Paul, 54, of Spring Lake, N.C., was born in York County and considered it his home, although he’d been living out of state since 1998, she said.
He died Oct. 22 from injuries suffered in an ambulance crash on the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina on Oct. 21, officials said. Paul was a paramedic for the Womack Army Medical Center.
“He was responding to a call when the incident happened,” said Shannon Lynch, public affairs specialist at Fort Bragg. He was in the passenger seat, according to Lynch.
“We are definitely heartbroken and we wish his family the best,” she said. “He touched a lot of people’s lives here at the hospital.”
Paul also worked as a paramedic for University of North Carolina Hospital’s pediatric critical care ambulance, Jan said.
Helped others: Longtime friend Jon Barnes of West York said helping to comfort or cheer up a sick, scared person -- especially a child -- was what Paul lived for.
“He just enjoyed helping people. That’s where he got his zest for life,” Barnes said. “If he could help somebody, that would make his day, every day. ... I think that touched his heart. I’m blessed to have known him.”
Paul was a lifetime member of West York’s Reliance Fire Co., and was an active volunteer and part-time paid driver from about 1992 to about 1998, according to Reliance Fire Capt. Stu Frey.
“He was a heck of a nice guy,” Frey said. “He was well liked around here. He used to help out at all of our fundraisers, lend a hand when he could. ... That was his life.”
Paul was a West York Police officer for five or seven years in the 1980s, and worked as a ranger at Gifford Pinchot State Park, Jan said. He was also a police officer in Red Lion, Glen Rock and for the York Fair, she said, and ran with Grantley and White Rose ambulance squads.
Protective: Paul always took care of people, according to his sister, who is a year older than him.
“He was very, very protective. The first date I ever went on, I was 16. ... We looked around and here was (Paul) lurking in the shadows,” she said. “He wanted to take care of me the best he could, no matter what.”
Paul was passionate about his walk with the Lord, his sister said, and was very involved in his church, as well as with the Promise Keepers and Men at the Cross organizations.
“He wanted to preach,” she said, but felt God wanted him to be a paramedic instead.
“And that made him love the job he was doing even more, because he was not only serving God, he was serving and protecting the families of men and women who are over in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia ... protecting our freedoms.”
‘No doubts': Paul was in the Army for three years, then served in the Army and Navy reserves.
“He was always fair with everybody, always willing to give somebody a second chance. But most of all, he was a true friend,” Barnes said. “He was very spiritual. Paul knew who he was, and he knew what his relationship with God was, and had no doubts.”
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