Obituary of Paul Allen Kastner

Paul was the second of four boys. The Kastner family were members of First United Methodist Church and all four boys attended Sunday school, sang in the choir, rang bells, and participated in UMYF youth fellowship meetings and boy scout meetings hosted by the church. Paul attended Horace Mann Junior High and graduated from Tulsa Central Senior High School in 1973. Born and raised in Tulsa, Paul’s school years were interrupted by a pair of tragic accidents - a wood shop accident where he lost the last digit of his left thumb, and a motorcycle accident with a severe head injury. He recovered from those incidents and it didn’t stop Paul from learning guitar. He played both classical and electric guitar. One of Paul’s passions was cooking, He loved to barbecue and he won first place in a barbecue cooking contest in Tulsa, launching Paul’s cooking career. Paul went on to serve as chef at the Mayo Hotel, Tulsa Summit Club, Oakwood Country Club, the Tulsa Club, Ponca City Country Club, Doubletree Hotel, Oaks Country Club, and Karmichael. In addition to cooking Paul did buffets, banquets, centerpieces, purchasing, inventories and menu planning. He also did warehouse and deliveries for Hodges Quality Meats and worked for a short time at Harvest Resources as a Geo-Chem Surveyor. Paul’s spare time was spent playing guitar and with his other major passion - bicycle racing. Paul was a member of the Tulsa Wheelman where he took first place during a time trial and was a member of the U.S. Cycling Federation. Paul raced in several local and national races, including one with bicycle legend Lance Armstrong. Paul married Margaret and they moved to Owego, New York to be closer to Margaret’s family. There they opened a barbecue restaurant called Smokey’s and it was quite popular for dining in, take-home, and for catering. Paul and Margaret had two daughters, Sandra and Karly, and Paul was quite active in their early years. After divorcing and selling his restaurant, Paul moved back to Tulsa and worked at Whole Foods as a chef. Later he became a truck driver doing local and cross-country deliveries for Swift and for Cotner Transport. Paul retired from truck driving after suffering a work-related fall which permanently injured his shoulder. Paul is survived by his daughter Sandra who is married and lives in New York and his daughter Karly who is engaged and lives in San Diego, California. Paul is also survived by his brother, Michael in Broomfield, Colorado, brother, Kenneth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and brother, Keith in Mounds, Oklahoma. Paul’s mother Dorothy passed away in 2009 and father Oscar passed away in September, 2020. A memorial service for Paul will be held jointly with a memorial service for his father Oscar at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa (11th and Boulder) on October 30 at 1:00pm. Masks are required and social distancing will be observed.