Paul A. Moote, Sr., age 84, passed away November 17, 2009 peacefully at Kaiser Hospital, Irvine, CA. Paul is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Adele; his sons Peter, Paul (“Paul 2”) and David; his daughters Adele and Marji; his grandchildren Brian, Patrick, Kilian, Alex, Eric, Sara and Anna; and his great grandson Chase.

Paul was born in Joliet, Illinois on June 6, 1925 and was in the ROTC officer training program in high school. In 1942 he was accepted in the Navy’s V-12 Program and received his B.A. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan. He was commissioned into the Navy as an ensign in the spring of 1945; the war ended and Paul started his career as a professional engineer licensed in seven states. Paul was Kaufman and Broad’s first contractor on their very first housing project in Warren, Michigan in 1957. In the mid 1960’s, he designed the very first “Zero Lot Line” subdivision, which then was duplicated across the nation and earned his firm a Gold Nugget Award.

Paul A. Moote Sr. didn’t hesitate coming up with an answer, back in 1974, when Adele asked him what he loved to do most in the industry. After successful careers as a civil engineer, an underground contractor, homebuilder, construction manager and estimator, he realized that, above all else, he loved to see land development become a reality. Land development costs are a tricky and risky proposition for homebuilders. Paul Sr. saw an opportunity for someone with experience in the industry to methodically and impartially calculate the cost of land development before the actual work began. So he founded Paul A. Moote & Associates, Inc., rented a couple of offices down under the stairs from Mr. Dick Hunsaker in Costa Mesa and started offering his services to the industry.

Paul Sr.’s first client was Robert P. Warmington. Bob believed in what Paul was trying to do and was in need of the services that he offered. Word of Paul Sr.'s reliable and accurate estimates quickly spread in the industry and his business took off. In the early 80’s, his son Paul 2 and daughter Marjorie, joined the firm and began training at their father’s side. Paul Sr. taught them a solid system and code of ethics to be applied to cost estimates, bidding and construction management for residential, commercial and all land development projects. In 1989, the company’s name was changed to The Moote Group. Its expertise expanded to include dry utility coordination, risk assessment, due diligence, land use permitting and entitlement, dry utility designs, program management and expert witness services.

“Build the project in your mind as you are doing the quantity take-offs, put the estimate in the order of construction and think like a contractor. Look for ways to save money on the project with different designs, better constructability or different methods or materials. Be honest with your assessment of the project, do what is right for the project. Remember that your job does not depend on the success of the project, so always be honest.”

Many people knew Paul as a husband, family man, mentor and teacher, but his heart was shelling on the beach with Adele, on a tennis court, on a golf course, in a goose blind or on a lake fishing.  Paul and Adele traveled to many parts of the world shelling, and during his retirement they lived 6 months out of each year in their beach pad in Waianae, Hawaii – fondly called “their little blue Hawaii.”

Memorial services for Paul will be held at Crystal Cathedral’s Main Sanctuary on Saturday, November 28^th, at 12:30 pm.  Following the services, a reception will be held at the Santa Ana Country Club, in Newport Beach.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Crystal Cathedral Memorial Gardens at (714) 971-4138.