Paul E Nix

Rev. Dr. Paul E. Nix Jr. D.Min [Shual Ben Shual, Paul son of Paul] living in Tulsa, Oklahoma went to his eternal reward on January 5, 2012. Paul, age 75 was a war baby born to Paul E. Nix and Virginia Lucille [Darr] Nix on February 24th 1945 in San Diego CA where Paul Sr. was stationed.

Dr. Paul Nix is survived by his wife of 48 years Dr. Linda L. [Bryant] Nix, Ph.D also of
Tulsa, Oklahoma, and two sons William M. Nix of Florida -Timothy P. Nix of Oklahoma, one daughter in love, Haley [Weber] Nix of FL, seven grandchildren: Jonathon, William II, Audriana, Aden, Joshua, Nadia, and Luke, and two great grandchildren Abram, and Noah. Paul has one brother Mark of Florida, and five sisters Jennifer Sharber, Elizabeth Wells, Amy Sherritz, Christina Harp, and Jean Bundy all live in Mt. Vernon, Indiana.

Paul’s Story Highlights

Growing up in Mt.Vernon, IN was good, Paul and his brother Mark. Both had paper
routes, played baseball all day, and maintained the families 1000 sweet potato plants and vegetable garden. This was the beginnings of Paul’s sales career and his life long passion for hamburgers, coke and french fries. The rule was no baseball until all the vegetables were sold. To Mark and Paul that was going to take too much time from baseball, so Paul went to the local grocery, haggled a deal with Gerber’s to buy the whole lot and off they went. Baseball was a passion for the brothers. In high school, they set some baseball records that were never broken. Both went on to be drafted with the minor league of the Detroit Tigers.

Love of God and family was instilled in Paul as a very young child through his mother,
dad and grandparents teaching the importance of prayer and a real relationship with Christ as his Savior. It was his father who prayed him through to his prayer language, his mother taught him scripture and the value in Bible study and grandmother to prevail in prayer. Paul valued family; one summer Paul worked all summer de-tasseling corn and gave all the earnings to his father for a family vacation to the Smoky Mountains.

Paul worked at the local flour mill to pay for college tuition at Indiana University for his first year and a half. Then the Army came knocking on his mailbox. Paul Sr. said “no” to the Army. They were “a Navy family”, and they went down to the Navy recruiter and signed Paul up.

His first duty station was Under Water Swim School, in the Mercury Project, Key West, Fl where he trained Navy seals to dive and retrieve the astronauts from their splash down capsule. From there he was sent to Argentia, NewFoundLand where it was so cold and windy it blew him down the road. From there he was sent to Navfac Bermuda where he enjoyed brother duty with his brother, playing golf most days, this is where his son Tim was born. Then he signed on for another tour to Naples Italy some time in 1970 where he was chosen as the only man in the Navy to do surveillance with the newest sonar equipment of the time. Assigned to the Van Voorhis a destroyer escort. He trained at Woods Hole Research & Development for this special assignment.

Paul left Italy for Buxton, NC as his last duty station. In 1972 Paul received special accommodations for his covert work in the Mediterranean and an Honorable Discharge. Paul came back to his hometown and married Linda Bryant from his home church, for a life long love affair of 48 years.

In pursuit of career direction Paul attended many sales schools, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale’s school, Real estate, New York life, though he was always a high achiever nothing satisfied.

Moving away from his home town was also a move away from the church and its
teaching which was disastrous. So in 1975 he re-dedicated our family and marriage to the Lord and God blessed us in 1976 with a miracle of our son William Matthew. We were living in Missouri when God changed our focus. We ran to the alter and surrendered our desires for His calling on our lifes.

In that same year Paul went to ORU to see the miracle that God would lead him back to in 1993. The years between 1975 and 1993 Paul worked in material handling selling lift trucks and racking for warehousing with customers such as Mead Johnson, Heath Candy Co., Disney and many other high profile companies. All the while he also pursued his ministry mcalling. He taught in prisons seeing great miracles, served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, singles pastor, and pastored three churches, pioneering his last one in Crystal River, Florida.

How He Shared His Life With Others & Significant Accomplishments

Paul had a genuine heart for people and most people loved him because he taught them the truth of the word. So many times years later people would say, “there has never been a ministry like yours it was one of a kind”, it was God working through Paul to His people. Paul was a exhorter of God’s people; he loved encouraging and mentoring others teaching them that, with God they could achieve His highest and best. Building a singles ministry for Pastor Rick VanHoose as well.

Paul saw a need for a girls residential facility to help them to be delivered from drugs and alcohol. He pursued and achieved the goal of birthing Plantation Hope with the help of many others. He also saw a need and bought an assisted living facility for seniors with memory loss.

He loved people and wanted to help. His joy was to coach other young pastors or young people with the desire to serve in ministry as well. Mentoring his ORU students from all over the globe was a passion.

Paul also served on short term mission quests usually a month to Philippians for several years with Tandoy’s ministries, Hatti with Pastor Rick VanHoose, China to the under ground church with Robert Easton. Paul & Linda served Pastor and Mrs. Hagin in Broken Arrow, OK for approximately sixteen years in a variety of helps ministries, hospital care, teaching the over fifty class, hospitality room with Don & Judy Burns, altar care, greeters, etc.

Paul was very community oriented serving in the Civitan club, ministering in nursing homes with his sisters and wife, Kids Against Hunger advisory board, Citrus United Basket, Low income housing task force in Citrus Co., Fl, March of Remembrance- Tulsa OK, Tulsa Global Alliance - sister city Tiberias, IS, selling real estate assisting people to have quality housing, Toast Masters and coaching business executives.

He had a life long passion for sports. When he liked a team, he was loyal to the end. He believed in the Tampa Bay Buc’s since he pastored in Florida in the 80’s, and he also believed in ORU’s womens and mens basketball.

He so enjoyed playing golf with his brother and son and coaching his grandson Will and granddaughter Audrie. He enjoyed hunting with his dad & brother growing up and later with his boys Matt and Tim and all the grandchildren at their hunting camp. Boating, snorkeling, and fishing with the family was always a good day for Paul.

The Final Years- The Miracle

After Paul finished his Masters at Oral Roberts University in 1998 there was an
assignment to go back to Fl and help a church that was severely damaged from a wounded spirit, disappointed and far off track. We accepted the assignment we were there as God asked, but they were a closed off garden and would not roll the stone away to allow the water of the Holy Spirit to come in and heal them. We were asked by two other churches to come and help build and we did. After five years we felt the leading to go back to Rhema. Paul began teaching ground classes at Wesleyan Bible college for a few years then at ORU online classes and supplementing his income with real estate.

In 2017, the unthinkable happen, a high energy man on no medication seemed to have
been attacked by stress so severely that later it was suggested that he have a stress test, he failed.

For the first time this smart man that could pass any test and read latin and greek, failed a test.

Finally one day in May he went into the doctors office to talk with the heart doctor and within three minutes he was in the hospital prepped for surgery for the “widow maker” the worst case situation. That was true, the blood thinners used, actually caused the 3 grafts to clot and he died.

They could not get him off the heart and lung machine, he had the best surgeon in the state, he and his staff we praying, still no response. We had people all over the world praying. Nothing would do but open him up again to do another three grafts, but he was clotting before the Dr. could graft them. Finally they held, still he died again and again, three times total. Last ditch effort of his surgeon, massaged his heart and wait, a beat and then they began to count minute by minute. He was the worst case in CVICU for 40 days.

Each step God was there working with him. Paul was a fighter, it was a struggle for this seventy one year old man. But God was there each step and so was I along with hundreds of prayer warriors. He could not talk, eat, breath, walk or even lift a pencil. But God, he got a full life back. He was teaching students all around the globe, mentoring business men, selling real estate, preaching 2-3 times a month, going to the ORU games, driving to Florida to see our son, boating, swimming you name it he could do it. This is a testament to what God’s people can do in unity. We got a wonderful gift, we had three more years and seven month with our beloved. This time in November 2020 the enemy came calling to steal, kill and destroy, but he was robed.

Death was swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15:4. Paul had put on the imperishable, and his mortal put on immortality. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin and when Paul asked the Lord to come into his life as a child and make his home, Paul had already gone from death to life and put on immortality through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.

This same perfect sacrifice is for all of those who believe in Yeshua the Christ, it is to all
who believe and verbally accept His sacrifice that He paid ahead for everyone.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made towards funeral expenses and sent to Linda Nix, care of Schaudt Funeral Service, 5757 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74145.

Due to Covid there will be a Memorial service sometime in the Spring of 2021.