Paul W. Baxter, 74, of Sandy Lake, Mercer County, died at 10:18 p.m. Sunday at UPMC, Pittsburgh, of pulmonary fibrosis.

Born April 27, 1931, in Coolspring Township, Mercer County, he was the son of Charles R. and Marie M. Gourley Baxter.

He was a 1950 graduate of Stoneboro High School and retired in 1993 after 25 years with Damascus-Bishop of Greenville. He also was agriculturally oriented and enjoyed working with farmers. For many years, he was a technician for the American Breeding Service.

He also was a Sandy Lake councilman and served on a Pennsylvania Statewide Investigative Grand Jury for two years.

Mr. Baxter was a member of the Sandy Lake Presbyterian Church, where he was an ordained elder.

He enjoyed gardening and traveling. He especially found joy in his family, especially his grandchildren.

Surviving are his wife, Sarah A. Hans Baxter, whom he married Aug. 28, 1955; five daughters: Mrs. Michael B. (Brenda) Heckman of Stoneboro; Mrs. Ed J. (Glenda) Spangler of Glen Ellyn, Ill., Mrs. Hal E. (Kimberly) Demmerle of Loveland, Ohio, and twins, Mrs. Scott F. (Lori) Golden of Odessa, Fla., and Lisa Chamberlain of Tampa, Fla.; a sister Rhoda McCartney of Hadley, Mercer County; and a brother, E. Richard Baxter and his wife, Gladys, of Mercer.

He also is survived by seven grandchildren, Joshua Heckman and his wife, Janice, Jared Heckman, Samantha, Drew and Danielle Demmerle, Michelle Powers and Brad Demmerle; and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by three brothers, Wesley, Arthur and David Baxter.

<b>BAXTER</b> — Friends of Paul W. Baxter, who died Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005, will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the SCOTT A. BLACK FUNERAL HOME, 99 Franklin St., Stoneboro. A funeral and committal service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Sandy Lake Presbyterian, 3461 Sandy Lake-New Lebanon Road, Sandy Lake, with the Rev. Galen Joe MacDonald, church pastor, and the Rev. Randy Ritchey, pastor of the Oak Grove Wesleyan Church, co-officiating.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Simmons Center of Interstitial Lung Disease, Falk Medical Bldg., 3601 Fifth Ave., 4th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.