Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Financial Management Directorate (FMD) team member Paul Effinger passed away on October 20, at the age of 57. A memorial service celebrating Effinger’s life will be held at the NPS Chapel at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15.

Paul Effinger joined the NPS financial management team as an intern in June of 1989. For more than 32 years, the FMD team and its mission gave Paul a sense of purpose and joy. He took tremendous pride in his work and would call the people he worked with his family.

Paul absolutely loved hockey – he was one of San Jose Sharks’ biggest fans. He knew everything about the Sharks – their team and player stats, schedules and playoff records. Few knew that he was a huge Star Trek fan too, going to a few conventions to embrace his inner ‘Trekkie.’

He loved to read both non-fiction and fiction spanning a wide range of genres. He also loved to build computer programs and databases. He built countless programs for the FMD team, but he also did it for fun. Paul had an old soul too … He loved old movies and TV series such as cowboy and detective shows. “The Fugitive” was a particular favorite.  

When asked to share something about Paul, his closest friend in the FMD team, whom Paul called his ‘finance work wife,’ shared that, “Paul had the most abstract sense of humor, but he had the biggest heart.”

We will miss Paul. The NPS and FMD teams were blessed to have had the privilege of serving with him.