Paul E. Dawson age 92 of Fredericksburg, IA, died Friday, February 26, 2021, at Maple Crest Manor in Fayette, IA. Public funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 5, 2021 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg with Rev. Ronnie Koch presiding. Interment with military honors will be in Rose Hill Cemetery, Fredericksburg. Friends may greet the family an hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Arrangements are with Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in Fredericksburg. Paul E. Dawson was born September 28, 1928, on the family farm southeast of Fredericksburg to Wesley and Zelma (Hubbard) Dawson, and he was the youngest of the Dawson’s four children. Like many kids growing up in the Depression era, Paul learned the importance of a good work ethic at a young age and helped his parents both in the fields and tending to the farm’s livestock. He attended country school through the eighth grade, but because his three siblings were attending high school, Paul stayed on the farm and helped his parents. In 1948, Paul enlisted in the U.S. Army, and he served his country well for four years. He was sent to Korea when war broke out in 1950 and served in the infantry that helped turn the tide of the conflict. After receiving his honorable discharge, Paul returned home to Iowa, and one day, he made the best decision of his life. He stopped into one of the town’s cafes, and it was there that he met the love of his life, Helen Harrison. The two were married on Aug. 19, 1956 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg. Their family eventually grew to include Ed and Linda, and they remember growing up in a home with a father who was more quiet than mom but who looked to pull practical jokes from time to time. They also knew Dad was the world’s best tinkerer, and trust us, Paul could fix anything. Paul’s kids will tell you that many years the Dawson family vacation consisted of picking out a room in the house, gutting it and remodeling it, but they also fondly remember their family’s trips to Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and to Minnesota for fishing. Paul worked a variety of jobs — driving truck and welding — before taking a position with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, where he worked for more than 20 years as a lineman, welder and snow plow driver who cleared the tracks after another Iowa winter storm. He was a fabulous grandfather to Spencer, Bronson and Maxwell, and he spent hours in the basement playing with them. There was no better day for Paul than spending time with his grandsons at a favorite fishing hole. Paul loved his garden and yard, and he took meticulous care of both. Put it this way, the rows in that garden were perfectly straight, and weeds were not allowed. Paul and Helen had a “regular coffee date” with their friends every day, and when Helen had to use a wheelchair because of the effects of her polio years before, Paul was a great caretaker who always did the pushing of the wheelchair. He had a long and well-lived life, and as sad as his children, grandchildren, friends and family are that he is gone, they are also comforted by the fact that after three years, he has been reunited with his beloved Helen. Survivors include one son, Ed Dawson of Cedar Rapids; one daughter, Linda Schoonover of LaCrescent, MN; three grandsons, Spencer (Lucy) Schoonover of Houston, TX, Bronson Schoonover of Fredericksburg, Maxwell Schoonover of Marion, IA; two sisters-in-law, Dorothy Harrison and Florence Rogers, both of Sumner, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents; a son in infancy; his wife in 2018; two brothers, John Dawson, Henry Dawson; one sister, Glenice Ingram.