Paul Soderberg ~ Class of 1967
Departed ~ 10/7/2022
Lovingly reported by Paul’s brother John.
My brother Paul Soderberg passed away unexpectedly this morning, probably from heart-related issues. So many memories.
This photo, with a broken-winged eagle he saved, is the only one I have of him in Afghanistan when he was working in famine-relief as a Colonel in the Afghan Army. He saved the lives of 30,000 people during the country’s worst famine- shortly before the Russian invasion and occupation. This was in the winter of 1972. The Russians tried to kill him three times.
Paul was an unusual person. He was a Lawrence of Arabia type. He had a scientific mind, and was a Herpetologist at 14 years old (study of snakes,) and was curator of the museum in Bangkok. He and I spent countless weeks trekking through the jungles of northwestern Thailand hunting for rare snakes for the Smithsonian with the Lahu Hill-tribes.
Paul graduated with a degree in Anthropology from ASU in Tempe, Arizona. He was first runner up for the Rhodes Scholarship. He was also an artist, and one of my favorite paintings is one he did of Blue Herons at sunset.
After he returned to America from Afghanistan, he became a published author and worked as a columnist with the Scottsdale Progress. He impacted many thousands of lives, and left us too early. Via con Dios, brother ❤️
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