Paul Clayton Solberg, 81, of Wixom, Michigan, passed away peacefully Tuesday, July 23, 2019, at the home of his niece, Kathleen Hanson, in Northfield. 

Paul was born Aug. 3, 1937, to Edwin and Lyla (Jordahl) Solberg of rural Manchester. Paul was baptized and confirmed at Manchester Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manchester.

He attended Manchester’s two-room school house for first through eighth grade and graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1955.  He went to business school to study accounting.

He met Nadine White while she was teaching school in Albert Lea. They married in 1960 and moved to Pierre, South Dakota, where Nadine grew up. There Paul worked in the accounting department at Oahe and Big Bend dams during their construction along the Missouri River.

They later moved to Richfield, where his daughter, Nancy, and son, David, were born.

During the time they lived in Richfield, Paul worked for the United Way, Legal Aid Society and the St. Paul Jewish Center. His last years were spent in Wixom, Michigan, caring for their son, David, during his 10-year struggle with leukemia. David died in 2008. Later his wife Nadine, who died in 2017, suffered health issues that included becoming paralyzed from the waist down during a hospitalization.

He continued to stay living in Michigan to be close to his grandson, Zachery Solberg.

Paul’s heart was damaged in childhood when he had rheumatic fever. In 1975, Paul was fitted with a metal artificial heart valve and in 2010 a pacemaker was installed. Paul developed advanced kidney disease followed by congestive heart failure.

He was preceded in death by his son, David; wife, Nadine; brother, Elvin; and brothers-in-law James Hanson and Ronald White.

Survivors include his daughter, Nancy Williams, and granddaughters Wynne and Gabrielle Williams of New Bedford, Massachusetts; grandson, Zachary Solberg, of Whitelake, Michigan; sister, Lorraine Hanson, of Northfield; sister-in-law, Wilda Solberg, of Albert Lea; and special friends Frank Casenhiser of Wixom and Stan Zahorsky, Edina. His many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews will all miss his collection of hats to cover his bald head, his love of the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota Twins, avid viewing of Fox News and reading the New Richland Star newspaper each week.

Paul’s memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Manchester Evangelical Lutheran Church, 101 McKinley St. in Manchester, with visitation at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Manchester Evangelical Lutheran Church bell tower restoration would be appreciated. Paul’s parents and grandparents were founders of the church. Burial will be at Hillcrest Cemetery in Albert Lea.