Paul Birkeland, age 96, went home to be with his Lord and saviour Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. Paul Maldal Birkeland was born Sept. 4, 1918, in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, to Carl and Sophie Birkeland (nee Lassen). His father was a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Paul spent his early childhood and teens living with his parents at his father’s assignments to many European countries. He attended local schools and learned to speak six foreign languages, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, Polish and Swedish. Paul graduated from the Lycee Francais de Varsovie, a French high school in Warsaw, Poland, and in 1938 traveled to the U.S. to attend the University of Illinois, majoring in political science. He was a member of the ROTC and in 1942 earned his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Field Artillery.
Shortly after his assignment to Ft. Sill, Okla., he was transferred to the newly established Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) at Camp Ritchie, Md., where he was in the first class to graduate. In early 1943, he was selected for overseas service as Assistant Military Attaché at the American Embassy to the Allied Governments in exile in London, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland and Belgium.
Because of his previous residence in Poland and near native fluency in Polish, he was assigned to work with the Polish General Staff Intelligence Service in the procurement of intelligence in support of the war in Europe. For this he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal by the United States and the Polish Gold Cross of Merit and Order of Polonia Restituta by Poland. After VE Day, the U.S. government reopened its embassies in the previously enemy-occupied countries. Paul, now Major Birkeland, was assigned as Assistant Military Attaché to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where he met his wife-to-be, Harriet Jane Downs. Jane was Chief of the U.S. Embassy Code Room. They were married Sept. 1, 1945.
In 1947, at the conclusion of his tour of duty in Belgrade, he returned to the U.S., where he was assigned to duty in G-2 (Intelligence) in the Pentagon. In 1949, he was contacted by the CIA with an offer to work with the agency. He accepted and spent the next 25 years as a career officer in the clandestine service of the Operations Directorate in both domestic and foreign assignments. He was a 1958 graduate of the Army War College.
He took retirement in 1973 and moved to Oak Harbor but agreed to contract employment with the CIA as a recruiter in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years. He loved to play golf and was a member of the Whidbey Golf and Country Club. He was also interested in boating and was a 25-year active member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary working with the Coast Guard in operations and promoting boat safety. He was a life member of the Fraternal Order Sons of Norway and a member of the Oak Harbor Lutheran Church. Since 2009, Paul has been a resident of Harbor Tower Village Assisted Living in Oak Harbor, Wash.
Paul was preceded in death by Jane, his wife of 55 years, and his daughter Janet. He leaves behind daughters Lesley Reifsnyder of Woodbridge, Va., (husband Jim Reifsnyder), Carla Birkeland of Everett, Wash., and Ann Garton (husband Keith Garton) of Port Orchard, Wash.; son Paul R. Birkeland of Bozeman, Mont; seven grandchildren, Heather (husband Matt Compy), Eric, Michael, Andrea (husband Josh Nelson), Brian, Yvonne and Joel; and four great-grandchildren, Jakob, Jackson, Easton and Lila Jane. Paul also is survived by longtime friend Faye Konopick of Oak Harbor.
A memorial service celebrating Paul’s life will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at the Oak Harbor Lutheran Church. The family has requested that donations be made in Paul’s name to the American Heart Association, or a charity of your choice.
