746 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2021
conditioned “farming equipment”), and since the early 1990s entertaining
extended family and their many friends at their beautiful location on
Okanagan Lake.
Paul and Darlene travelled the world both before and after retirement—
too many countries from five continents to recite here—often with their
very good friends, neighbours and ginseng-farming partners, Roy and Evelyn.
And they had fun. Roy’s stories of some of the goofy and adventurous
side trips they took would take pages to tell.
Paul managed all this because in his work life he nurtured and developed
support systems around him that allowed delegation to the extent that the
practice he carried was far more than one person normally could carry.
That practice also established the practices for many other lawyers and
paralegal support staff.
Still, somehow, his clients never found Paul too busy to pay attention to
them. He juggled massive amounts of information within his mind alone.
A testament to his social skills is how he managed throughout his life
with a struggle to recall the names of all the people he knew. It was a marvel
to watch how he worked his way through introducing people whose names
he’d forgotten to each other.
His client base went far beyond the Vernon area. His practice was not
small town. He represented many big names. As a citizen, he volunteered
in all walks of life, with an emphasis on small business enterprise, education
and youth opportunities.
It wasn’t until after Paul departed this earthly realm that the tremendous
outpouring of goodwill from the community revealed that our very high
view of Paul was shared by so very many people whose lives he had
touched.
Paul and Darlene were a team for 50 years. Anything they put their hands
and minds to was thought through and done well. When the two of them
developed friendships, those friendships were for life. Not surprisingly,
their two sons, Braden and Jordan, are confident, social, well-rounded and
successful adults with families and businesses of their own.
Paul’s present and former law partners, in concert with his family, put
together the Paul Nixon Legacy Fund soon after his death. It is administered
through the Community Foundation of the North Okanagan (the local
equivalent of the Vancouver Foundation). Even before this was done, people
and institutions from all around the community were asking if there
would be something put together in Paul’s memory to which they could
donate. Paul’s family will ultimately decide where the money will go. Paul
would have wanted it to be that way.