Hilton: December 16, 2024. Paul is predeceased by his parents, Kurt & Olive Spindler. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Maureen (Lacey) Spindler; children, Sarah Spindler, Rebecca (David Richter) Spindler, & Stephen Spindler; grandson, Jack Richter; siblings, William (Frances) Spindler & Christa (Michael) Leman; several nieces, nephews, cousins, & dear friends.

Paul’s life story will be shared during his visitation at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane, (Between 390 & Long Pond Rd.), Friday, December 20th, 2-4 & 6-8 PM. His funeral service will be celebrated Saturday, December 21st, 10:30 AM at Hope Church, 1301 Vintage Lane. Private interment in Riverside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Aquinas Institute, 1127 Dewey Ave., Rochester, NY 14613 https://www.aquinasinstitute.com/ or to The Center 4 Hope, 1301 Vintage Lane, Rochester, NY 14626 https://center4hopegreece.org/ in Paul’s memory.

Remembering Paul

Paul was born into a loving Christian home in 1952, joining his brother Bill. His mother proudly stopped and voted for Eisenhower for President on her way home from the hospital! The family was complete when his sister Christa came along a couple years later. Paul went to school in Greece and attended Hope Lutheran Church all his life. He was fond of saying he was a member nine months before he was born. When asked when he had a moment of really believing, he said, “I don’t think I ever had a ‘moment’ – I just always believed”.

Paul studied engineering at R.I.T, graduating in 1975 with his BS in Engineering. He often said being an engineer (Industrial) was not a job but a disease. He saw just about everything through an engineer’s eyes. Paul got bit with the theatre bug in his Junior year when he joined the stage crew, opening and closing the curtain. Senior year he got his courage up and auditioned for a role in “ A Man for All Seasons”, the story of King Henry VIII’s desire to get a divorce. This turn in Henry’s life led to the founding of the Church of England, over the strong opposition of Sir Thomas More. More’s opposition led to his execution. Henry got his church and his new wife.

Paul was cast as King Henry VIII, and needed an elaborate costume. That’s where he met Maureen (the costume lady). While working on his costume she asked Paul if he liked his costume. His reply: “Yes its great – I’ll make you one of my wives”. Paul kinda liked her! And she him – funny, sweet, not afraid to talk about his faith. The closing production that year was the musical “Guys & Dolls”. Paul was cast as Nicely Nicely, with the show-stopping number “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat”. Although Maureen was also in the show they only overlapped onstage in that one number, but offstage! Things were happening. Their memorable first date turned into many more, and soon they were sure their lives were going to change. Married in 1977, they started on a great new life. Two weeks (two weeks!) into their marriage Maureen broadsided a garbage truck in her Ford Pinto and landed in the hospital needing emergency surgery and several new teeth. The following Monday Paul was laid off.

Paul often commented that he prayed on their wedding for God to strengthen their marriage. As he was fond of saying later, “Don’t pray this unless you REALLY mean it”. Paul got a great new job and Maureen healed. They bought a beautiful old house in Hilton, NY and got on with the business of living. Three wonderful children came along. (Believe me, those two were very good at making babies!).

Paul eventually got hired by Kodak – his dream job! Being the avid photographer he was, now he was helping make film, and – Gosh Golly Gee – he could join the Kodak Camera Club, largest in the world (because every employee was a member by default)! Paul threw himself into competition and won a whole lot of awards. He also got involved in the running of KCC, was elected President and received their Distinguished Service Award.

Sadly he, like so many others, was laid off from The Big Yellow Box. There was life after Kodak, and Paul always made the best of it. But his days at Kodak were his best. He retrained to work in IT, with success. That world was changing, too, and the employment opportunities in Rochester were becoming more and more slim. But he used his increased IT skills to beef up his already great Bible courses at Hope. Now he was adding graphics, videos, photos through the new tool called PowerPoint, and the church folks loved it!

Paul was making some consistent typos and having a nervous, twitchy feeling in his hands and legs. The family doctor referred him to a neurologist. The diagnosis was Parkinson’s. Paul was in his early 40s, young to be diagnosed. Of course he plunged into research into causes (pretty much unknown) and treatments (lots and lots), and of course, cures. No cures, so he threw himself into exercise and diet changes to help slow down the progression.

He was productive for many years. Finally, about 10 years ago, Paul retired. In his words , “Every day is like Saturday”! He worked on photos in Photoshop, presented more Bible Studies, and even binge-watched old seasons of “24”, which got his Parkinson’s rolling so much he could only watch one or two episodes at a time. He read books he never had time for, he cooked. Those first couple of years were a gift! But Parkinson’s slowly, inexorably took over. He started having cognitive issues, as well as increased freezing and uncontrolled movements. His reading ability slowed down – the unread books piled up. He had trouble dealing with his complicated passwords, so the use of his beloved Macs stopped. His emails went unread.

Parkinson’s is a cruel master. This smart, funny man slowed down more than he wanted to. He was dealing as best he could when, Thanksgiving week, he came down with an infection. The family didn’t realize how sick he was until one morning he couldn’t sit up. The decision was made to call the ambulance. He was admitted to Strong with septic shock, and he never came out of it.

His family and Pastor Larry were there to help ease him over when the life support was taken away, and he passed peacefully, “Silent Night” playing in the background. The words “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” were sung as he passed. Now he’s in Heaven, greeted by his Mom & Dad, and his beloved dog Sam. His tired body betrayed him but his believing spirit is carrying him forward with new strength and freedom. He so richly deserves this. But – He Will Be Missed.