Obituary for Paul Otis Belisle
80 years young
If you are reading this then it is my formal announcement that all our golf and pool games are canceled. I started a new adventure on January 30, 2023, leaving behind a beautiful loving wife of 55 years, that I affectionately called “Kathryn my darling, Kathryn my dear, Kathryn my darling dear”. A marriage that started with a spur of the moment 4th date proposal, that stood the test of time. I have also left behind my 2 grown children Christopher and Stephanie, who I will miss praising with my melodious song of “proud of you, I’m proud of you, I hope that you are proud as I am, proud of you, I’m proud of you, I hope that you are proud of you too”, a song that made me smile when sung to me on my last days. Through the years my children blessed me with children of their own that I had the privilege to love and watch grow to amazing young adults: Niccoli, Madasyn, CJ, and Sierra.
I lived a full life of love and friendship and success. I grew up in Worcester, MA perfecting the Boston accent as well as a tone deafness that made the mother superior of Assumption Prep beg for my silence. I learned quickly in college that a party school was not the best for a successful future so I moved to Washington state and attended St. Martin’s in Olympia. I graduated to a long and prosperous career as a corporate controller until I ran my own business in automotive interior design. In my younger, early married years I spent many nights in Vermont with close friends drinking “yukah flats” out of an old barrel and a beat-up sneaker accompanied by a song that would make you blush. This memory gave me a lot of laughs and pleasure in my last few weeks. A pro storyteller I was, often “reading my wife’s wedding band inscription”, leaving a room in quiet awe followed by hilarious laughter.
I had the gift of being bilingual in French and English that allowed me to live around the world with my family and work. I had a deep love of boating, spending summers on the Belle-Isle II sailing all over Long Island Sound, an experience that was filled with “tranquility, punctuated by moments of sheer terror”. I had a love/hate relationship with ladders in which I would climb them and they would kick me off, breaking both heels, exactly the same on 2 separate incidents. Both ladders are still free…to any home that is willing to take them.
I was a lieutenant in the National Guard, always putting my men before me. Did you know that I once retired the flag at Mt. Rushmore in the evening ceremony? As private as my service was to those around me, the love and admiration of a grandchild asking with pleading eyes was enough to grab a small hand and stand with honor amongst my peers. Once, I was even granted leave from my service by President Johnson to attend my only sisters’ wedding, giving me a stamp of political pull on all my military documents. I walked my last guard in October, 2022 when I was honored with my final visit to Washington DC with Honor Flight.
Moving to the Villages was the best move Kathy and I ever made. I found a beautiful life there with more friends and support than I could have imagined. There I was able to walk my final steps the way I always lived my life. I never met a soul I couldn’t touch, a heart I couldn’t make lighter, or a stranger that I couldn’t instantly make into a treasured friend. I was a fighter, beating metastatic cancer, a friend, a mentor, a provider, a husband, a confidante, the best gin and tonic maker in the world, an excellent mediocre golfer, a father, and a determined loving soul.
I, like you, am heartbroken that we will never hold hands or have a special talk again. That I won’t be there to raise a glass and toast all of your successes. That you won’t hear me tell you that you were a friend and I was honored to know you. That my chair will forever be empty and my glass will always be full. Please don’t be sad when you think of me as gone, for I am always by your side. I am the memory that makes you smile, that thought that makes you laugh and the warmth that makes your heart feel love. Be happy in the time that we had together and the love and friendship we shared. The next time you think of me, raise a glass to celebrate a life well lived. “I’ll drink to that!”
Memorial Service will be held at Beyers Funeral Home, Lady Lake, FL Monday, February 13, 2023 at 11am.