WILLIAM ‘PAUL’ VARSON

William “Paul” Varson of Pound, Virginia, passed away on June 3, 2023 at the age of 93.

Paul grew up in Jenkins, Kentucky. He met his lifelong sweetheart, Chances Kelly, in Pound in 1948, and the couple married in 1949.

Paul graduated from Virginia Tech (then Virginia Polytechnic Institute) in 1951 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation he entered the Research and Development Command of the United States Air Force. He was assigned to the Atlantic Missile Test Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he attended school and received an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering. During the seven years he was stationed in Florida, Cape Canaveral was developed from a facility that had no permanent buildings to a facility capable of supporting multiple missile launches.

In 1957 he left the Air Force and went to work for Cubic Corporation, an electronic company in San Diego, California, where he was in charge of a program to build one of the early satellites.

In 1962 he went to work at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on the day of John Glenn's first mission in orbit. He worked for NASA on the Apollo Program from 1962 to 1973. Goddard operated the world-wide network of stations to provide the tracking and communications data for the Houston Space Center. Lunar missions required major modifications to the Goddard’s network. Paul was Chief of the Manned Flight Support Office, which developed and implemented the new system to provide the tracking and communications data for the lunar missions. Paul received numerous awards during his time at NASA, including twice being awarded NASA's Exceptional Service Medal and the Telemetry Achievement Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Twice Paul authored and presented papers at the International Space Conferences, the first in Stockholm and the second in Tokyo.

Paul left NASA and returned to the area in 1973, moving to Chances’ family farm in Pound, where he resided until his death. Paul was of the Baptist Faith and was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Pound from 1973 until the time of this death.

Paul taught computer science at Clinch Valley College in Wise for several years in the late 1970s. He also served as Wise County’s County Administrator for two terms, from 1980 to 1984 and again from 1988 to 1992.

He and Chances were very active in the Republican Party throughout their time in Wise County. Paul served as the chairman of the Wise County Republican Party beginning in 1984. In service of the party, Paul and Chances made countless trips for meetings, conferences, conventions, and leadership conventions. Paul was a Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1996, 2004, and 2008. Paul and Chances both served as Delegates at the National Convention in 2008, an honor that had never before been bestowed on one family.

Paul had an insatiable curiosity about the world. After his retirement in 1992, Paul and Chances and family were able to take many exciting trips throughout Europe, North Africa, and Central America. While at home on Sunnydale Farm in Pound, Paul could be found tending to the farm on his big old Massey Ferguson tractor on pretty days, or building furniture in his woodshop when the weather was bad. Paul was out on his tractor just two weeks before he died, and he left behind a piece of furniture that he had just been working on.

Paul is preceded in death by his father Steven Varson, his mother Helen Jones, and his sister Marjorie Hoffman. Paul is survived by his wife of 73 years, Chances Kelly Varson. He is also survived by his four daughters --Paula Varson of Castroville, Texas; Amy Varson of Pound, Virginia; Stephanie Varson of Ashland, Virginia; and Mary Varson Cromer of Pound, Virginia. He is also survived by three grandchildren -- Sarah Austin Lynch of Ashland, Virginia; Martha Eugenia Day of Castroville, Texas; and Julian Chant Cromer of Pound, Virginia. He is survived by one great-granddaughter Ellie Ruth Lynch of Ashland, Virginia.

A funeral service will be held for Paul at the First Baptist Church in Pound at 4:00 pm on Sunday, July 30. The service will be followed by a Celebration of Paul’s Life in the Fellowship Hall behind the church. All are welcome to attend.

The family has set up a scholarship fund in Paul’s name with UVA-Wise and asks that in lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Paul Varson may be made to the UVA Wise Foundation, Paul Varson Scholarship Fund, 1 College Avenue, Wise, VA 24293.