Paul Gius Sr. - We knew him as Grampo

My Grampo was born on June 30, 1927 and passed away on February 24, 2010. Today we had the funeral and gathered as a family to remember and say our farewells to him. He had a full military honors funeral and that was amazing to see. Men and women giving thanks to the man we love, for his time and service to our country, was certainly an honor to witness.

There are many memories I have growing up of my Grampo. I learned at a very early age that he was different but loved him regardless. I understood that he served are country in the Army during WWII, he was primarily in Germany during the war and from what I have been told had severe shell shock. It changed him in many ways and so began his eccentric beliefs in UFOs, spirits, life on mars, saturn and many other mystical things. This is how I always knew my Grampo and have some great memories, such as breakfast with him as kids, he would give us our drinks and there would be another full cup of water next to us and he would tell us to watch closely because the spirits near us would drink too. I also remember when he would leave his home he would always record the sound in his house and have us listen to the play back on tape. I recall a cousin swearing he heard something too. As a kid I found it very interesting and comical and again loved him regardless.

I just heard one of the most funny stories about my Grampo today at the reception. My aunt Sarah had met him when she was 14 and he had told her that they teach people on mars to walk on ice. Apparently it was winter time and ice was on the ground, so he told her, "watch I will show you how they walk on ice like they teach them in mars." He steps on the ice and his legs flipped up from under him and landed straight on his behind. That story cracked me up but it was certainly how many of our times spent with Grampo went and we enjoyed it.

Of course there are the many times we would see him and he would be playing his guitar and singing. It would always remind me of being a little girl because those were some of my favorite times as a kid. I love to hear my dad and uncle Larry playing the guitar together and singing Spanish music because of those memories. Happy memories for sure.

Over the past week I have spent time at his apartment with my dad, aunt Nanci, uncle Larry, sister and cousins going through some of his belongings. He had a chest that had a lock on it so when we went through it he had many photos from his time in Germany and when he was younger. I wish we had more items such as the history of our family in Italy, but it was nice to see the many things he did have, in fact there was one photo that I have never seen in there of me and my sister. It was nice to know that he did hold us dear and kept these pictures of us.

I am certainly thankful for the time and memories I do have with him and will cherish them.

Here he is in his Army uniform. I think he was so handsome.




Wish I knew where this picture was taken.



Not sure how old he is here, but still good looking. Love his smile.



Recent photos with one of his loves. His guitar.



This is the photo he had of my and my sister. When I saw it my first thought was OH MY, that is Pea! I asked Pea who it was in the pictures and she said, "that's Zoe" and pointed to her self, LOL. I explained that was mommy when she was a little girl. Just love that my Grampo had this picture.