Paul Cantleberry

Paul Cantleberry, 83 year old resident of rural Motley, passed away on Friday, April 12 at his home.  A Memorial Mass will be held on Monday, April 22 at 11:00 A.M. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Little Falls. Visitation will be held on Sunday, April 21 from 2:00-6:00 P.M. at Emblom Brenny Funeral Service in Little Falls. A prayer service will be held at 5.00 PM on Sunday at the funeral home led by Deacon Henry Knapp. Visitation continues Monday at 9:30 A.M. until the hour of the service at the church.  The burial will be held in Scandia Valley Cemetery.

Paul Hubert Cantleberry was born October 18, 1940 in Staples, MN to the late Henry Levi Cantleberry and Hattie Margalette (Smolka) Cantleberry.  He attended the one-room Scandia Valley School and then Pillager High School, graduating with the class of 1958.  After high school, he lived with his oldest sister in White Bear Lake and attended Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis. Paul earned his diploma as a Machinist and went to work for Possis Company in Minneapolis. He was united in marriage to Marlene Theresa Pawlenty on June 27, 1964 at St. Adalbert's Catholic Church in Little Falls. They started their family in St. Louis Park, MN and shortly thereafter moved to Oconomowoc, WI, where Paul worked for the Carnation Company.  Paul and Marlene were blessed with two daughters, Catherine and Sara, and moved home to Scandia Valley in 1974 to raise their family. Paul worked with his dad and brothers on the family farm and helped with township maintenance. He also worked at Seafest Foods in Motley throughout the 1980s and 90s.  After the death of Marlene and his eventual retirement from both Seafest & farming, Paul moved to Little Falls, MN in 2007.  After 19 years as a widower Paul met the second love of his life and married Mary Jane DeVaan on April 5, 2014.  The couple made their home on Lake Scandi in rural Glenwood, MN.  After the death of Mary Jane, Paul again made Scandia Valley his full-time home, returning to the Century Farm settled by his grandparents.   Paul enjoyed fishing for walleye from Canada to South Dakota, tinkering with many things & fixing or rebuilding most, coffee with friends, and spending time with his daughters, grandchildren and family.

Paul was very active with St. Michael's Catholic Church in Motley, MN and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Little Falls serving in many capacities from Parish Council, CCD teacher, helping with church bazaars, washing dishes after funeral lunches, refinishing many wooden church pews, and becoming a boiler engineer to help his pastor with the church boiler. He volunteered many hours at the Camp Ripley Military Museum. He will be remembered and missed by all who loved him!

Left to cherish his memory are his daughters, Catherine (Michael) Knapp of Aberdeen, SD, Sara (Thomas Housh) Cantleberry of Maplewood, MN; grandchildren, Noah and Rachel Knapp of Aberdeen, SD; the DeVaan family of Glenwood; many nieces and nephews; and a wide circle of friends. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Hattie Cantleberry; siblings, Letitia Thorn, Margaret Hines, Charles Cantleberry and Henry Cantleberry, Jr.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations towards organizations close to our father’s heart, such as Scandia Valley Fire & Rescue, Our Lady of Lourdes parish, or Camp Ripley Military Museum.

Emblom Brenny Funeral Service is Cherishing the Memory and Celebrating the Life of Paul.