Paul Grunden died Feb. 16, 2023 at Falmouth Hospital. He was born in Lexington, Ky., to William and Loretta Grunden. The family lived in Connecticut and Rhode Island before making the Vineyard their permanent home. After graduating from MVRHS, Paul joined the army. When his enlistment was up, he continued to serve his country and the state as a military police officer in the National Guard and saw action during the first Gulf War. He remained in the National Guard for 20 years, retiring as a staff sergeant. Paul also served the Vineyard as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He was a Red Cross volunteer and deployed to many natural disasters, rendering aid all over the country. He is survived by his brothers David of Oak Bluffs and Wesley of Phoenix, Ariz.
Paul worked for Barnes Moving and Storage on the road all over the country for many years; when his Guard duties were scheduled he was all over the world and would come back with some great stories Paul was an honorable man,verywell liked by the crew and customers alike. RIP GRUNDEN! if theres a highway in heaven you will be on it-keep the shiney side up !!GOD BLESS……
The first time I spoke with Paul was on the ferry. Both of us were commuting after a weekend with our respective National Guard units. I was just finishing up a four-year tour with my unit out of Melrose and I explained to Paul I was finding the commute from the island to much since our unit had increased duty to two weekends a month and I was not going to re-enlist. He told me about his National Guard unit out of Hyannis Paul said, don’t leave the guard re-up and join my unit out of Hyannis we can commute together to duty. For the next year we would drive Paul’s car from the Woodshole parking lot to Hyannis for our duty and that year we had a good two weeks FTX at the Gap in upstate Pennsylvania. I knew Paul as a good soldier and a team player our unit could rely on, Paul saw and understood his duty and served this nation with distinction. May the “The Caissons Go Rolling Along”
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