****Update****

We have raised enough money to get him home, which is the most important thing. Any money that is left over will be used for a memorial.

Hello, I am Kevin Simmers. Paul is my older brother. As I sit here in front of this screen, my mind keeps going blank. Growing up, there were 4 of us, Paul, Kim, myself, and Timothy. Recently, I received a call from the Santa Clara county coroner’s office. The phone call that you never want, and never believe that you could be the one to receive, because, hey, that only happens in movies. Let me tell you, from personal experience, that call will shatter your day.

ABOUT PAUL

Paul was always the most visually creative of the four kids. He was the type that was always looking at how something could be changed or how it could be more interesting. He was constantly drawing things and coming up with different ideas for comic books/strips. Eventually, like every great artist, his walls were covered with drawings.

Graduating high school in 1990, Paul left Ohio to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He never really felt challenged at the school and ended up quitting after just a few semesters because “the classes were all boring” and “ too focused on advertising”. Paul didn’t want to be an artist for advertising, he wanted to work for Image comics, as he was a huge Todd McFarlane fan.

When a job at Image didn’t pan out, Paul worked on several other small projects. He was a co-creator of the ‘zine Kunst. In the 1990’ s there was a huge culture in self published small magazines, or ‘zines. The internet, still in its youth made access to a larger audience for available. Paul was entranced at the idea of not only getting his ‘zine to a national circulation, but also the possibility of using the net to launch a new comic book company. Obviously this never happened.

Paul was the type of person that would have given the shirt off his back to help those he cared for, but he also suffered from mental illness. He was diagnosed with a few different disorders, but he didn’t take any drugs to treat them, because drugs interfered with the creative process. 25 years ago, Paul cut communication with everyone in the family and disappeared. We have been tirelessly searching for him. With advancements in web sites and people finding technologies, every time we got close, or thought we may have found him, we’d either get no responses or find out that he had previously moved on from that location. Never did any of us ever dream that we would find him in this manner. Paul was found deceased, alone in his apartment. I won’t share the details, but I can say that they are not pretty.

BRINGING PAUL HOME

Currently, Paul’s body is being held at the Santa Clara county coroner’s office. We need to bring him home to Ohio for burial. The expense of transporting is $4 per mile, at 2,445 miles. This translates to $9,000+ just to bring him home. That doesn’t include the funeral or burial. Every penny raised here will be used to help transport his body back to Ohio to be put to rest.

Paul has left behind his Mother, 2 brothers, a sister, a son and a daughter, as well as 10 nieces and nephews that never got the chance to know him. Please help us bring him home.

*****Update*****

After several calls and linking with several different agencies, we are looking at about $6,000 total for everything. Many thanks to those that have donated already.

Boyd funeral home in Marion, Ohio is handling arrangements for transport from California to Ohio.