Visitation: No prior visitation.
Service: A private burial will be held at WNY Veterans Cemetery. November 28, 2021.
Beloved husband of the
late Irene (nee Lacz)
DuPernell; brother of
the late Nancy
(LaVerne) Pravel and
the late Marie (Martin)
Pettit; dear friend of Jacqueline and
Richard Mansfield and Ruth and John
Phillips; God-father of Karen (Joseph)
Colosante. Also survived by nieces and
nephews. A Burial will be held at WNY
Veterans Cemetery privately.
Arrangements by THE DIETRICH
FUNERAL HOME, INC. Memorials may
be made to SPCA or Salvation Army.
Online condolences may be shared at
www.TheDietrichFuneralHome.com Sept. 9, 1924 – Nov. 28, 2021

Paul C. DuPernell played a key role in keeping General Motors vehicles comfortably cool in the summer and toasty warm in the winter.

Working with Harrison Radiator Division in Lockport, later Delphi Thermal and Interior Systems, Mr. DuPernell designed systems in the 1960s that could sustain temperatures in wind tunnels at desert heat or arctic cold for testing of GM’s heating and air conditioning units. When the tunnels needed upgrading in the mid 2000s, he came back to do it.

A licensed professional engineer who specialized in cryogenics projects for research and manufacturing, he died Nov. 28 in GreenFields Continuing Care Community, Lancaster, where he had been a resident since 2009. He was 97.

Born in Buffalo, the second of three children, he grew up in the Cleveland Hill neighborhood of Cheektowaga. He attended a four-room school, Cheektowaga Public School No. 3, and graduated in 1942 from Amherst Central High School, where he was a library assistant and a member of the Camera Club.

He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served in World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater as a line mechanic and a crew chief, flying “The Hump” to deliver supplies to Chinese and American troops in C-46 Curtiss Commando planes made in Buffalo.

Married to the former Irene Lacz – a secretary and a licensed practical nurse – in 1948, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering by attending night school at the University of Buffalo.

He worked for Davis Refrigeration, a division of Joseph Davis Co., a major construction contractor, and retired in 1985 as a senior vice president, a director and chief operating officer of Davis Refrigeration.

He designed and built several low-temperature chlorine liquefaction refrigeration systems for major chemical corporations and other systems used in the manufacture of catalysts for the plastics industry. He also designed and installed several constant temperature and constant humidity rooms for laboratories and large production facilities.

He produced the heating and cooling systems for six wind tunnels at Harrison Radiator in Lockport and blast freezing plants for meat and fruit processors and for the world’s largest bagel bakery.

He also conducted tours of refrigeration facilities and gave lectures on refrigeration, heating and air conditioning.

In retirement, he was a consultant for Joseph Davis Inc., and returned often to the General Motors plant in Lockport for work on the wind tunnels.

He was a past member of the Kiwanis Club of Buffalo and the Rotary Club of Buffalo, with 17 years of perfect attendance in both organizations. With the Kiwanis, he served as a director, secretary and vice president. He also was a Rotary Club director.

He and his wife purchased a farm in Lancaster in 1965 and raised hay and grain for nearby beef farmers. He enjoyed woodworking, making furniture and photography.

Survivors include nieces and nephews. His wife died in 2003.

Burial in the Western New York National Cemetery in Pembroke will be private.