Paul E. Dorey lived in Vista from 1971 until his passing in 2022. He and his wife Nancy raised their two daughters, Cyndy and Renee in the Vista Unified School District. As a young man, Paul served in the United States Marine Corps (Marine Corps) and received a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam. He believed wholeheartedly in the adage, “Once a Marine, always a Marine”, and as a Marine Corps veteran Paul strived to advance the Nation’s ideals his entire life.
Paul went to work for Vista Irrigation District (VID) in 1971 and he retired in 2004 after a long and industrious career. Without a college degree, he worked his way up with the company from digging trenches and laying pipe to retiring as a Director for the district. Wanting to continue his work with the VID, in 2006, Paul was elected to the VID Board of Directors, and he went on to be reelected by his constituents for an additional three terms, serving proudly and continuously until his passing in April 2022. During his 16 years on the VID Board, he led the Board as its President for three terms. Paul’s passion for water and his dedication to the District and its customers was apparent considering the fact that he served the District as an employee and then as a member of its governing body for a combined total of 49 years of the District’s 100-year existence!
Paul was active in the community of Vista, as well. For over 20 years he was an active member of the Vista Kiwanis Club participating in selling peanuts at the stoplights throughout Vista as their fundraising efforts in the 80s and 90s, participating in community events such as clothing drives for children in need, to leadership roles from writing the Kiwanis newsletter to leading as their board President. Additionally, Paul gave back to the community through his coaching of softball with the Vista Girls Softball. When he hung up his hat as a coach, he continued supporting the softball league with his talent as a scorekeeper which he utilized through his daughters’ years of softball at Rancho Buena Vista High School. After breaking his leg playing with the VID slow pitch softball team after subbing for one game, he even became the VID scorekeeper for their team at Brengle Terrace Park, too.
After Paul’s time in Vietnam in communication, he built a love of ham radio and Morse Code. On weekends you could always find Paul in his “Ham Shack” making connections around the world with other fellow “Hams”. This passion for radio communication came in handy a few times during emergency fires across the county when telephone lines were down. Paul was known to step in and assist with communications using his radio skills he learned as a marine and continued as a hobby.
For the benefit of the VID customers and in the interest of keeping the cost of water down and service reliability up, Paul dedicated his time and effort to assure that the District maintains the most comprehensive, affordable and reliable liability insurance possible by serving on the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) Board of Directors for 15 of his 16 years on the VID Board. He also served on the ACWA JPIA Liability Committee.
In addition to his work with VID, Paul had an steadfast interest in protecting the State and local groundwater resources. He was a founding member and long-time Board member of the Groundwater Resources Association of California, an organization dedicated to resource management, protecting and improving the groundwater supply and quality through education and technical leadership. He also served on the ACWA Groundwater Committee for 15 years, and the San Luis Rey Watershed Council and the Southern California Water Coalition (SCWC) and the SCWC Colorado River Advisory Task Force.
