Ronald Lloyd Paddack

Ronald Lloyd Paddack

1938-2016

Dr. Ronald Lloyd Paddack passed away on Monday March 14th, 2016 at the age of 77.  He was born to Lloyd Arlie and Marjorie Hubbard Paddack on May 28, 1938 in Alex, Oklahoma.  He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Hwa Yun;  son James Arlie and daughter-in-law Stephanie Sims, daughter Marjorie and son-in-law Bryan Mobley;  grandson Robert Grant, and twin granddaughters Meredith and Juliette.  He is also survived by his three siblings, Shirley Carson, Marilyn Kay Gage, and James Alfred Paddack.

Dr. Paddack retired as the Founder and Director of the International Office at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond where he served from 1976 to 2006.
Ronald is a Graduate of Lindsay, Oklahoma High School, Bachelors and Masters degrees from East Central Oklahoma State University, and a Doctorate degree from Baylor University.

Paddack taught in Montana and Hawaii in 1961-64.  He then joined the US Department of Defense Overseas School System and taught in Korea, Germany, Turkey and Japan.  The next three years were spent at Baylor University.  Upon graduation in 1972 he became an assistant professor at William Carey College in Mississippi.  He did a comprehensive study of the need for a graduate school at William Carey and wrote their first graduate catalog.  The next two years were spent with the University of Guam.  He served as the chairman of the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

In 1976, he was hired to begin the International Office at Central State University , now called the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.   Throughout the next thirty years he recruited tirelessly, finding great pleasure in seeing the international student population grow in number and diversity.  As he was a product of small-town, rural Oklahoma he wanted other such students to be able to rub shoulders with the rest of the world.  At one point he had just under 2000 international students on campus , and another high point was when he had 105 countries represented in the student body.  Paddack was able to develop many programs for international students which continue today, and there is a scholarship in his name.  He was inducted into the UCO Luminary Society in 2015

Highlights of his thirty years in the office brought him many opportunities and special honors, including appointments by the Department of State to evaluate foreign education in Bulgaria and Canada.  He was nationally considered an authority in International Education Evaluation, and was a sought-after speaker and was the author of numerous articles.

Paddack had been a member of Edmond’s First Baptist Church since 1975 where he has served as Deacon.  He was a co-founder of the church’s International Sunday School Department, where he continued to serve until his death.

In the community, Paddack was a member of the Oklahoma Friendship Force, an organization which promotes overseas travel and cultural understanding.  He served as Vice President of the Oklahoma chapter.

Ronald was involved in the establishment of Oklahoma City’s Sister City relationship with Puebla, Mexico in the 1990’s.  He was a member of the Oklahoma Visitors Council since 1980.  He served as President in 2009 and 2010.

Paddack served in numerous capacities, including the office of President, of  the Edmond Kiwanis club for about 38 years.  His Kiwanis membership was very important to him, and he loved civic work in Edmond.

Since his retirement in 2006, Paddack continued to travel, always telling the UCO story.  Ronald eventually joined the Traveller’s Century Club and enjoyed his association with other club members.  To be a member one must have visited a minimum of 100 counties.

He derived great joy from the hundreds of former students who remained in contact with him, and from his three grandchildren.  At the time of his death he had visited a total of 183 countries from the cosmopolitan to the undeveloped and remote, but he always loved returning

A viewing will be held from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m., Friday, March 18 at Matthews Funeral Home.  Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, March 19 at the First Baptist Church in Edmond, OK with burial to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma City, OK

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