Graveside service for SFC, U.S. Army (Ret.) Richard Wayne Paxton, 67, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 6, 2012, in Fort Jackson National Cemetery. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.
Mr. Paxton died Friday, December 30, 2011. Born in Louisville, KY, he was a son of the late Amos A. and Velma I. Griffin Paxton.
Richard was a 1963 graduate of Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, TX. Following graduation, he enlisted in the US Army, where he trained as a Russian linguist. He was assigned to Kagnew Station (Stonehouse) at Asmara, Ethopia, under the control of the US Army Security Agency and the National Security Agency. Stonehouse made significant contributions to the US intelligence community. While there, traveling in a vintage Land Rover with friends, he enjoyed photo safaris.

He was later assigned to the Satellite Earth Station in West Berlin, Germany, under the 5th Signal Command. Upon retirement, he was employed by the Berlin Brigade Command as a computer programmer. Following the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, he and his wife relocated to Lexington in 1992, where he joined the US Postal Service as an electronics technician for 17 years and retired again in 2010. Richard was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who enjoyed time spent with family. He was also passionate about photography, woodworking, NASCAR and other sports. He was noted for his love of animals and their love of him. He was a voracious reader and puzzle solver who enjoyed travel and games of chance. He was a loyal supporter of the United Way for many years.
Surviving are his wife of 33 years, Mary Snyder Paxton; daughter, Elizabeth Koon Seeley (Eric) of Billings, MT.; son, Dr. Scott Ross Koon (Dr. Tanya Cunic) of Durham, N.C.; grandchildren, Annalise L. Mellon (Eric B. Means), Ethan E. R. Seeley, Zachary Ross Koon, Madeline G. Koon; great-granddaughter, Harmony L. Means; brother, Mark A. Paxton (Jenna M.) of Austin, Texas; mother-in-law, Mary James Snyder of Columbia; sister-in-law, Jacqueline S. Martin (Judge J.R. Martin) of Columbia; niece, Lauren E. Martin; nephews, Aaron A. Paxton, Cameron B. Paxton and Logan Wayne Paxton.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Sistercare, PO Box 1029, Columbia, SC 29202, The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 (www.humanesociety.org) or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 424 E. 9th Street, New York, NY 10128-6804 (www.aspca.org).