THE ADVOCATE 117
VOL. 80 PART 1 JANUARY 2022
children, including summers at the lake in Maine and the many family visits
in Toronto, Vancouver or Cambridge.
For decades starting in 1977, Paul combined his love of his family, playing
golf and being an ardent sports fan by joining his brothers Bob and Joe,
cousins Bill and Mike, and other close friends for their annual trek to the
Super Bowl. This was an epic week of golf, local sight-seeing, dining and
spirited talks about sports and politics. All who went on these trips, especially
Paul, relished the joy of camaraderie and boisterous fun away from
the stresses of their professional lives and other responsibilities of the real
world.
Paul found ways to get the most out of life at work and play. He enjoyed
golf, especially playing with his family. He was an advocate of “happy golf”
that involved his own set of rules to maximize enjoyment. If there wasn’t
anyone playing behind him, he would play two balls for the whole round.
Eventually he decided he would keep track only of his birdies and pars and
not bother counting his total number of shots in a round. This tendency to
focus on the positive would serve him well throughout his long illness.
Over the last 20 years, Paul’s neurological condition slowly took from him
most of the functions we take for granted in our everyday lives. However,
this same condition also awoke a part of Paul that enriched his life in ways
we could not have imagined before his illness. Paul underwent a miraculous
transformation from the quintessential left-brain analytical thinker with
dazzling intellect to someone much more attuned to his emotions.
Paul’s wife Florrie, his long-time live-in caregiver Angelita Altea, as well
as neighbours and invaluable helpers Ernesto, Gladys and their daughter
Kathryn, and his close friends Greg and Elaine, among others, formed a loving
community of family and friends in Cambridge who provided affectionate
care and treasured companionship to Paul. Paul never ceased finding
the joy in life, including his love for his children, grandchildren, siblings
and cousins in Canada, as well as his extended Darwin family-in-law in the
United States.
Paul was a devout Catholic who took great comfort in his faith before and
during his long illness. For Paul, every day was a gift.
In her announcement to the family of Paul’s passing, Paul’s wife Florrie
commented:
Among his greatest achievements is the way that Paul managed to live
each day with enthusiasm and high spirits, even as his physical capabilities
progressively declined. His attitude towards life is exemplified by the
thumbs-up sign that was his way of saying an emphatic “Yes!” when most
forms of communication weren’t possible for him—and every one of his
days up to the last was punctuated with plenty of enthusiastic thumbs-ups.