Alex Paavola

Alex was born on Jan. 30, 1986, in Hancock, to David H. and Catherine L. Paavola of Elo. His brother and playmate, Morgan Paavola came two and a half years later.

As a young child, Alex was always curious about the natural world and loved all of nature. He was an early reader and when he discovered an unfamiliar creature in the wild, he would read all that he could about it.

At age seven, he went on a field trip to Ken and Cindy Flood’s Keweenaw Gem and Gift Shop in Houghton and was hooked on rocks and minerals, a life-long love. When he was nine, he took a glassy-looking garage sale ring to Flood’s shop to be evaluated. They confirmed it to be a five-karat pear-shaped diamond and sold it for Alex. He received $5,000 for it. After that, he joined the Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club insisting to his mother that he was old enough, but she would have to join, so she could drive. Alex’s self-collected mineral collection won first prize, and the 1998 Midwest Mineralogical Society Show held at Michigan Tech University. Later, Professor George Robinson invited Alex to audit his class on mineralogy at Michigan Tech when he was just 14.

Alex went through the Houghton-Portage Township Schools, always excelling in both the arts and sciences. During one summer in high school, he worked with a Suomi College art instructor designing and making decorative ceramic tiles that were used in the redecorating of the Houghton High School cafeteria.

In high school, Alex participated in sports, running cross-country, hurdles, and enjoying acting in the Drama Club. Alex was blessed with a near-photographic memory and an insatiable appetite for reading on all topics. He could speak eloquently about his interests and converse knowledgeably with academia.

Alex was skilled in construction work and was employed after graduation by Keweenaw National Historical Park for the summer. Later, his aptitude in construction and related work led to many opportunities for employment whenever he travelled around the country.

Throughout Alex’s adult life, mental illness became a recurrent roadblock at advancement in employment and personal relationships. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a recipe for failure in continuity of treatment by preventing mental health history from being shared, therefore, each hospitalization may as well have been the first because of the sick patient, by the nature of the illness doesn’t want to, or cannot by virtue of his symptoms, share treatment history and advance the starting point of treatment. It is like inventing the wheel over and over again.

Recently, Alex was making a greenhouse and starting vegetables for his garden and his Tapiola home and also painting and decorating inside while receiving mental health treatment. After a lapse in treatment, he was killed by a fire and explosion at his parents’ home in Elo on Sunday, May 25.

Alex is survived by his parents, David and Catherine Paavola; his brother and sister-in-law, Morgan and Kayla Paavola; and his nieces, Ada and Amelia Paavola.

A celebration of Alex’s life will be held at a later date.

The family would like to thank The Otter Lake Fire & First Responders, Pelkie Fire & Rescue, Hurontown Fire & Rescue, Houghton County Sheriff Dept, Michigan State Police, Superior Service Towing, Pigs-n-Heat for financial support, Kelly Jepsen of State Farm for professional advice, Julie Filpus for transportation, and infinite gratitude to our neighbors, Amy and Ed Zawada, for holding us up and meeting needs that we were not even aware of.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, our beloved son would want any donations to go to organizations that help the homeless.

To view this obituary or to send condolences online to Alex’s family, please visit www.memorialchapel.net.

The Memorial Chapel Funeral & Cremation Service is assisting the family with the arrangements.