I'd agree with Charles there – bite the bullet, go the extra mile and produce a clean updated copy of the source. While you're at it, consider using the "insert and link" option for graphics; that way, if a diagram that's used several times changes, all you need to do is update the original diagram and refresh your .doc files. Your children – be they offpsring or pupils – and your children's children will thank you, and perhaps even your future colleagues might remember to :-} Good luck with that chicken!

If you have access to full Acrobat, try the "save as text" options; the benefit is, you end up with paragraphs rather than lines. If not, there are postings elsewhere in this forum about converting blocks of lines to single paragraphs.

My approach to this type of conversion, once the paragraphs are sorted, is to use tagging in the plain-text file to mark the different styles I'll want to apply; then I open the tagged file in Word and use search/replace. This may make more sense when you've checked the references Charles supplied.

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related question to contributors, incldued here since answer may help OP: because Word is not my primary tool, I've not had to trust any valuable content to linked graphics. What's your opinion/experience with it – stable and reliable? and why is the belt-and-braces "insert and link" option there?