Paul Alfred Salvage Jr.

Paul Alfred Salvage was born May 15, 1956 in Waltham, Massachusetts to Paul Salvage, Senior and Martha Andrews. He was the first of eight children, 4 brothers and 3 sisters: Paul, Sharon, Harold, Stephen, Kathleen, Andrea, David, and Matthew. He was raised in the Boston area and moved to Indiana around age 10. He attended St. Therese of the Little Flower Catholic school, then graduated from John Marshall High school.

Paul went into the Coast Guard right out of high school, and he served for 4 years. After leaving the Coast Guard he used the skills he learned as a Mechanic for several years; in the late 90’s he sold cars for a local dealership in Port Orchard and then began selling buses. Around 1999 he opened his own bus sales business which he did until retirement. He enjoyed running his business and the many business trips he took delivering buses throughout several states. While selling cars he was listed in the top 100 salesmen in the U.S.A. He went on to successfully run his own bus sales business. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

While in Coast Guard Paul manned the Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine and was featured on the Today Show; He also was stationed on the ice breaker Mackinaw on the Great Lakes; He became a Marksman in rifle shooting. Paul took great pride in his time serving in the Coast Guard especially the time he spent manning the Portland Head lighthouse.

Paul met Theresa Bacon after they were introduced by one of her high school friends and he worked on Theresa’s Mustang in the early 80’s. They were married several years later on September 7, 1990, in Kent on a small lake called Cherokee Bay. Their son Sloan Robert was born September 24, 1997. They celebrated their 32nd anniversary on September 7, 2022, just a little over a month before he passed away.

He loved going on fishing expeditions on the several boats he owned throughout time and told stories about one particularly harrowing fishing trip at Neah Bay where a storm rolled in, and he and crew had to navigate 20-foot seas. They thought they were going to die but fortunately they made it and even caught several salmon!

He also liked working on cars with Sloan and was proud of coaching his son in several sports and sticking up for his son on a few occasions when grade school bullies tried to pick on him. Paul played football in grade school through high school and was so good that he was offered a scholarship but for personal reasons had to turn it down.

He spoke fondly of the Camaro he owned while in the Coast Guard and more recently, his Maroon Ford Escape with the panoramic roof. One other thing Paul loved was car racing and the Indianapolis 500. When he was young he went to the Indy 500 every year. More recently when he could no longer go in person, he watched it on TV every year. His favorite color was blue and many of the shirts he wore were shades of blue or had blue in them.

He loved his many boats and enjoyed taking his family out on them, but especially the Tollycraft Sports Fisher. Anywhere he could take his boat was a good place to him; Puget Sound, Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington. He always wanted to be at sea and often said it was where he felt most at peace. When boating was no longer an option, vacationing at the Pacific Coast and in Hawaii became favorite places. He truly loved going on many family vacations. When Sloan was young we went to Disneyland several times and visited Disneyworld. He said his favorite vacation ever was vacationing in Hawaii in December 2017 with Theresa and son Sloan where they rented a beautiful house on the Kona side of the big island with a beautiful view. It was a fun but also very relaxing trip. He loved the family dog Bella and walked her daily. When he wasn’t doing other activities or spending time in his “man cave” he also enjoyed going to Ace Hardware in Port Orchard where in more recent years he would go 2-3 times a week.

Boating, fishing, mowing our several acres on his rider mower with dog Bella chasing after him. He loved watching the Seahawks and the Mariner’s. Football was always a passion for Paul, and he always knew current and past game statistics for the Hawks and many other teams. Before a Seahawks game he would put on his Seahawk jersey, and he would also put one on Bella. Every time the Hawks scored a touchdown, you could hear Paul screaming (even if you were in another room) “TOUCH DOWN Bella.” Bella would just look at him, puzzled regarding what the fuss was all about.

Paul loved classic rock and artist Bruce Springsteen, especially the album Born to Run. Also very much enjoyed Pink Floyd all albums and especially the song Comfortably Numb. When not boating for a period of time, Paul would frequently say “I’m suffering from seaweed deprivation.” When people would mistakenly think his last name was Savage he would often say “no it’s ‘Salvage’ like under ‘junk’ in the dictionary.” He loved action-adventure movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Fast and Furious, and Die Hard, etc. He loved telling jokes and was very good at remembering them and hitting the punch lines just right. He was a character to be sure and we will all very much miss him!!

He lived a good, full life despite tough circumstances growing up. He was preceded in death by his Mother Martha, father Paul Senior, sisters Sharon and Andrea, brothers David and Matthew, and granddaughter Katheryn.

Paul is survived by his loving wife Theresa; brothers Harold and Stephen, sister Kathleen, sons Paul Holder III and Sloan Robert Salvage as well as other extended family members and dear friends.