Final Salute

On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Thomas Ross Paille, loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away after a long, difficult battle with Alzheimer’s. Tom was 77 years old. A native of California, Tom was born in Detroit, Michigan, but moved shortly thereafter. He was raised in Azusa, California before relocating to Felton in 1958. He attended SLV, Mission Hill and Santa Cruz High. His parents bought a house on Sacramento Avenue, Santa Cruz, where Tom found great adventure along the seashores of West Cliff Drive. His love for automobiles afforded him with over 32 cars, which he repaired and resold. He enlisted in the US Navy Seabees from 1964-1969 as construction mechanic, stationed at Naval Base San Diego and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. He was also a member of Felton Bible Church, attending 40 years.Tom worked at various local auto parts houses/dealerships before opening his own furniture restoration business, “The Refinisher”, which he managed for over 18 years. In 1978 he married Debra Gross and settled his family in Bonny Doon. He worked for Bonny Doon Elementary School as operations technician until his retirement. A man’s man with a soft heart who could fix anything needing repair; he loved people. Tom is survived by his wife, Debra M. Paille; their two children, Jennifer M. Fry (Justin) of Livermore, Sean P. Paille of Watsonville; granddaughter, Madeleine L. Fry of Livermore; uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews. Preceded in death are his parents Goldie M. Paille, Edward E. Paille; his brother Edward A. Paille.A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 1, 2023 at Felton Bible Church, 5999 Graham Hill Road. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to “Operation Heal Our Patriots”, a project of Samaritan’s Purse; 1-800-528-1980 or email www.samaritanspurse.org.

Published by Santa Cruz Sentinel on Mar. 12, 2023.