Other articles by Kimberly Matas:

She helped empower others to change lives Brave, adventurous, inspired by lacrosse Memorial tattoos ease loss for family, friendsHardworking centenarian persevered Marine with local kin dies Paz: small hands but big heart, big guitar talentA compassion for those in need of helpSkilled draftsman loved flying, but becoming a geezer beat it allHe had extraordinary career as lawmanThe journey was the object for this hiker

Production and Manufacturing
QUALITY MANAGER Sales and Marketing
Town and Country Foods
Sales Manager Driver/Transportation
Winroc Corp
Drivers Trades/Construction
Best Paving
Asphalt Finish Roller Operators Trades/Construction
FAULK ELECTRIC
ELECTRICAL Driver/Transportation
Pioneer Landscaping
Dieel Fleet Mechanic Trades/Construction
Mechanical Systems, Inc
Plumbing/Piping Superintendent

Time is money.

In Paul Humphrey's case, the 8,000 hours he spent volunteering added up to a $590,000 value for the Pima Council on Aging's Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

The retired advertising salesman spent much of his time since 1980 entertaining hospital patients and residents of nursing homes and other senior facilities. The self-taught drummer was one of a trio of musicians who performed as volunteers with the program. He also sat in with local bands when they needed a drummer, and he often played at social dances at the Armory Park Senior Center in Downtown Tucson.

"He has absolutely been a very important part of Armory and entertained our members for 20-something years," said Robin McArdle-Landers, Armory Park Senior Center director. "When you think about Armory, for a lot of our people, you think about music, and you think about the dances. And when you do that, you think about Paul Humphrey," McArdle-Landers said. "His drums are still up on the stage. They are a staple here. He's gone, but his drums are here."

Humphrey died on July 3. In recent years, he suffered from dementia. He was 87.

A memorial service for Humphrey will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Armory Park Senior Center, 220 S. Fifth Ave.

Humphrey was born in Terre Haute, Ind., the second of three children. He taught himself to drum and was performing with the Boy Scouts of America drum corps by age 11. He was a member of his high school's orchestra and later played in an American Legion drum corps.

Humphrey began taking college courses to become a teacher, but he quit school to get married. After a few years, though, the marriage ended, and he enlisted in the Marines and played in a military band.

Upon discharge, Humphrey moved back to Indiana and married again. While working in advertising sales to pay the bills, he continued playing gigs.

He gained his chops playing with professional bands, including Ted Weems and his orchestra and the notorious "King of Western Swing," Spade Cooley, who murdered his wife in 1961.

Humphrey took classes at the Krupa-Cole Drum School, which was opened in 1954 by percussionists Gene Krupa and Cozy Cole.

Humphrey and his second wife were planning to move to Las Vegas, but they came to Tucson and decided to stay.

He worked in ad sales and hosted a couple of Old Pueblo radio programs over the years, including one in which he was "Sheriff Drag-Along of Total Wreck, Arizona," said his last wife, Carol Humphrey, whom he wed in 1989.

Humphrey played gigs all over Tucson until a decade ago, when failing health meant he no longer could load his drum kit into and out of his beat-up 1970 Volkswagen van. In more recent years, he mostly played drums with a band at Armory Park.

Early on, he was a favorite of Dean Armstrong and the Arizona Dance Hands. Armstrong called Humphrey whenever he needed a fill-in drummer.

"He was a very good drummer and a very cooperative musician," Armstrong said. "It didn't make any difference what you played. He played what you needed him to. And he was very congenial with the audience. He always visited with people during intermission; he always had a joke or a story to tell."

McArdle-Landers has worked at Armory Park for 15 years and saw Humphrey almost daily — even after he remarried and moved to Benson.

"There wasn't anything Paul couldn't play, and there isn't a musician here in town, probably, over the age of 50 Paul hasn't played with," she said.

Humphrey had a playful sense of humor, arriving for Armory Park gigs in themed costume and joking with the crowd.

"Paul made me laugh every single day when he came in. He loved a good joke. He loved telling it, and he loved hearing it," McArdle-Landers said.

"Generally, when he would come in, before he even played, he'd tell me a joke. He loved to make people laugh. He was entertaining in many ways."

Karen Larkin, a superintendent at the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department, remembered Humphrey from when she worked at Armory Park.

"He was a fun, funny man who made a lot of people's lives light up," she said. "He did it both through his music and his humor. He was always positive.

"He flirted a little bit with the women, and that always makes you feel good. He enjoyed making people happy and being around happy people."

Cecilia Salaz, director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, said Humphrey "enjoyed playing music for others because he knew it gave them something to look forward to. He knew it brightened their day. That was an enjoyment for him, that he could bring joy to others."

Even when dementia and a frail body kept Humphrey from performing, he continued playing. His wife gave him a pair of drumsticks that he would tap on his bed in time with music.

"Of all the things he forgot, he never forgot how to play," Carol Humphrey said.

"He'd play along with the radio or Lawrence Welk on TV."

On StarNet: Did you know Paul Humphrey? Add your remembrance to this article online and find a photo gallery of his life at azstarnet.com/lifestories.