Paul Godlewski

Paul Godlewski

Paul Godlewski was born to Joseph and Lillian Godlewski on Nov 25th, 1953, the youngest of their three children. He died the night of Jan 21, 2025 after a long battle of 20 years with cancer.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Paul grew up with a large extended family where he had many fond memories. He attended UIUC from 1971 to 1978 graduating with a master’s degree in Civil Engineering. During his college days, he had the “best time of his life with his friends” especially when they were eating Papa Del’s Pizza and drinking beer. As a research assistant in 1977 he studied the consolidation behavior of clay soils and co-authored a famous paper in the Geotechnical community called Time and Stress Compressibility Interrelationship. His research is still in practice in the geotechnical industry and referenced in the geotechnical textbook.

After graduating, he moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked at Shannon & Wilson (S&W) Inc for 44 years. During this time, he worked and led many tunnel and railroad projects, such as the Beacon Hill Light Rail tunnel. Also at S&W, he served on the board and was the Seattle office manager.

He met Elisabeth Smith on a church-social cruise around Lake Union. They would date and eventually get married on Jan 26, 1991. Within the next few years they would have two children; Joseph and Robert. Paul participated in many activities including Boy Scouts with his sons. In Boy Scouts he assisted with leading and teaching the boys survival skills when camping outdoors and how to make pinewood derby cars. Paul and Elisabeth took many trips together, either just the two of them or with their sons, traveling abroad to Europe or visiting the Panama Canal. As they grew older, Paul and Lisa would enjoy long walks on the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Paul grew up with an understanding of giving back to his community. He volunteered with the Chore Ministry to help those in need and served as a volunteer tax preparer for low income families. After being diagnosed with cancer, he joined a support group, which he helped co-lead and worked to help support others.

Being a loving father and husband, we will remember Paul for his humility, kindness to others, and generosity to all. He is survived by: his wife, Elisabeth and their two sons Joseph and Robert; his two older brothers Daniel, Thaddeus and wife Jeannette; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Lillian; and his sister-in-law, Patricia.