Funeral services for Paul H. Gilbreth will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 25, 2026, in Bethesda Church of God, Duncan, Oklahoma with Rev. Johnny Gray and Rev. Harold Metheny officiating.

He will be laid to rest with military honors in Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Oklahoma at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 25, 2026, under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

Family will greet friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at the funeral home.

Paul Howard Gilbreth, 81, passed away on February 19, 2026, at the Lawton-Fort Sill Veteran's Center in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was born on July 2, 1944, in Paris, Tennessee to Carl and Ila Gilbreth.

Paul grew up and graduated from Springville High School in Tennessee in 1962. Shortly after graduation, Paul joined the Army, serving in Korea before returning to Fort Sill. Paul worked at Exxon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for seven years. He missed southwest Oklahoma and returned to live on his ranch in Marlow.

Paul's love for birds started when he was about six years old while trying to capture a pigeon from a hay loft. The bird flew away causing him to fall out of the hayloft and become seriously injured. As Paul said, he backed into the parakeet business and founded Gilbreth Aviaries. He started out raising parakeets and later began buying and selling parakeets, lovebirds, and various finches. He shipped over a million birds from Oklahoma City and Lawton over the span of 30 years, becoming known as the Keet King of Oklahoma.

Paul liked the nostalgia of living smack dab in the middle of the Chisolm Trail, and his ranch ran right through the middle of it. He then started his longhorn herd with over 100 head of longhorns. He served as director for the Indian Territory Texas Longhorn Association and was a lifetime member of the TLBAA and ITLA Longhorn Associations.

Paul met his beloved Patti Gunkel through a chance encounter in 1982, and they were reunited years later. They were united in marriage on October 15, 1999.

Survivors include his wife, Patti Gilbreth; daughters, Monica McGilvrary and her husband, Murry, Amy Goodwin and her husband, Mike, and Lori Daniels; son, Jake Husmann and his wife, Jennifer; grandchildren, Ryan, Riley, and Reagan Goodwin, Lilly Daniels, Katie George and her husband, Dan, and Murray McGilvrary and his wife, Ashley; and great-grandchildren, Oliver and Amelia George, Desmond and Thomas McGilvrary, and Alek McDannell and Elijah Quezada; sister, Frieda James; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Mary Amburgy; and brothers, Kenneth and Carl Gilbreth.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.beckerfuneral.com