Paul George Edward Wiley (8 Nov 1959 - 24 Feb 2017)

In loving memory of Paul George Edward Wiley who sadly passed away on 24th February 2017

Paul was born in the General Lying In Hospital, Waterloo in 1959, to his mum Gloria and dad Harry, he grew up in Camberwell. He had 3 siblings; Dawn, Lynn and Jill. He was always the protective brother of all three of them but doted on his youngest sister Jill. At the age of 35 he sadly lost his mother to cancer, he was at her bedside everyday looking after her and he never got over this.

From the age of 6 he began boxing at the Campbell Club as an amateur boxer. He was a good boxer and had a real talent. At the age of 19, he was trained by his dad to be a boxing trainer. Paul and his father started 2 boxing clubs; the Pembrook in East Lane and the Spitfire in Biggin Hill. He was very close to his dad throughout his life and they were best friends.

Paul had a few different jobs during his life, he started work with his dad packaging table products. He changed jobs a couple of times, he had a while working as a cab driver and would often tell funny stories about this. He then got a job at London South Bank University as a porter through his dad and ended his working life there as a site manager. He was a valuable and well respected employee there, putting in over 26 years of service! His employees all knew that nothing was ever too much trouble for Paul.

He loved cars, he passed his driving test in 1978 and was given his first car, an Austin 1000 by his dad at the age of 19. His second car was an Audi 700 also given to him by his dad, which he used as a cab to support his young family. He had a few different cars, in 2005 he bought a Toyota Prius brand new. This was his pride and joy, he loved taking it for long drives when he had time.

He married Linda, his childhood sweetheart in 1982 at the age of 22. They had 5 children together; Christine, Susan, Sammi, Katie and Michael. They separated in 1995 due to differences but remained good friends. He then met Kim, when they were both working together at London South Bank University, with whom he found deep happiness. They had 2 children together; Mark and Gina. Paul had 8 grandchildren; Kyla, Jay J, Sky, Archie, Amelia, Jessica, Tyler and Harley.

Paul and Kim stayed together until the end of his life and their love for each other was clear for everyone to see. Kim made him very happy, he was proud to be with her and they had always planned to get married. Sadly Paul passed away on Kim's birthday and Kim said that it will "always be a reminder of the love we shared".

Paul had many hobbies, including; boxing, fishing, football (supporting Chelsea FC), DJing and spending time in the pub with his friends.

He was a brave man and a passionate one, he always stood up for what he believed in. He was a gentleman, he was always clean shaven, smartly dressed and well mannered. He had a jolly laugh, big smile always on his face and a great sense of humour among many other personal qualities.

He was an amazing partner, dad, granddad, son, brother, uncle, nephew and friend. He will be sorely missed by all that had the pleasure of knowing him. Please use this obituary to leave memories of him, messages and photos.

Thank you!

Eulogy from Paul's partner, Kim:

The very first time I saw Paul I was struck by his lovely smile and great personality. He was very kind and helpful, everyone liked him he had such a big personality.

Paul was a man of his word, he’d say ‘there are talkers and doers’. If Paul said he’d do something you knew he wouldn’t let you down.
He was a loving, caring partner and never did let me down.

He was very talented at DIY (taught by his Father Harry). He could turn his hand to all DIY jobs, and what he didn’t know he’d research and carry out the job with perfection.

He always told me how proud he was to be with me when we were out together and made me feel like a million dollars.

We were very happy together and I could talk to him about anything.

He was a proud Father and loved all his children and Grandchildren.

Paul loved my cooking, and I’d always make sure he got the bay leaf when I made a stew, it used to wind him up but it made me chuckle!!! He'd also often ask, 'Do you charge for hairs?'

We planned to go on a Baltic cruise and get married when he got better and sadly this will never happen. I’ll remember the years we did spend together with happiness and treasure the memories for the rest of my life.

Having had every test imaginable ('except a pregnancy test', he told anyone who'd listen'), Paul passed away on the 24th February 2017 - my birthday which will always be a reminder of the love we shared

Paul's children's eulogy:

Well, where do we start, the only thing we can do is to think and tell everyone about the type of father he was.
Firstly our dad had a great sense of humour, a smile and jolly laugh that could light up any room. He had his favourite jokes that he would always tell. One of his favourites was about the rare Centipede.
“A guy goes hiking and finds a rare poisonous centipede. Wanting to show his drinking buddies he puts it in a small ventilated box. Once he gets it home, the guy decides to take the centipede to his local bar. He taps on the box and says, "Would you like to go to Charley's with me and have a beer?" There's no answer from the centipede. He waits a few moments then says, "How about you and me going to a bar?" Again, there's no answer. Thinking the centipede can't hear him, the man goes right up to the box and yells, "Hey! Would you like to go to Charley's and have a drink?!" A little voice comes out of the box, "I heard you the first time! I'm putting on my shoes."
If someone didn’t get a joke or laugh he would always say “sorry to bore ya” and roll his eyes. We had heard them over and over but we would always laugh as he had a way of telling them. He would make a joke of any situation and could cheer anyone up whenever they were feeling low. He was the life and soul at any party and would always take part in doing shots with us all. He would always cry with laughter at his daughter Sammi, whenever she done a shot she would slap the closest person to her. This was her way of getting rid of the bad taste, dad found this hilarious.
He was a supportive father, he would always tell us all how proud he was of all his children. He was supportive of his daughter Katie through her nursing degree at the university he worked at and was beaming with pride at her graduation. His granddaughter Kyla has just been offered a place studying photography at the same university. He was delighted and was looking forward to taking care of her too. He was supportive with anything anyone aspired to be or do. He always supported Gina’s talent in performance and would encourage her to follow her dreams. He would also always ask Susan to get up and sing at a karaoke as she has a fantastic voice and dad wanted to show this off to his friends. His 2 sons Michael and Mark not only share dads good looks but they have his charming manners and ways; and dad couldn’t have been prouder of the fine young men they have turned into. We’re lucky that we can see a lot of dad through them. He was very proud to walk Christine down the aisle at her wedding to Steven. Giving away his eldest daughter meant a lot to him. Dad was proud of his daughter Sammi for the strength she showed whilst going through fertility treatment for her two children. He was a proud grandfather to 8 grandchildren.

He was not only a father but a good friend to us all. You could speak to him about anything. He was an honest person but always polite when offering his opinion on anything. He had a way with words. He was fair and would always think logically before making any decisions.
He was a brave man and a passionate one, He always stood up for what he believed in. He taught us all to do this too and taught us all how to protect ourselves. He taught us all to fight by sparring following his passion for boxing and often got a punch on the chin by doing this!
He was a gentlemen, he was always clean shaven, smartly dressed and well mannered.
Going back to how brave he was, even in the final weeks of his life he showed such bravery whilst being so unwell in hospital. He fought to the very end, we are all so incredibly proud to call him our dad. He was a fighter, he was our hero and if the love we had for him could have saved him he would definitely still be with us today.

Paul's father Harry's eulogy:

Paul made me very proud in so many ways.
I took him to the swimming baths when he was 10 years old but he would not get into the water so I took him home. A week later I was asked to go to his school, naturally I thought he had done something wrong. Instead they took me to their swimming pool, Paul dived into the pool and swam two lengths. He said to me after that he didn’t want me to think he was a wimp!
Paul was always with me from the age of six. He always looked after his younger sisters and fought many of their battles growing up.
He was great at everything he put his mind to; boxing, fishing, DJing. He worked with me on three occasions. In my later years, I was offered a disco very cheap. Paul said ‘go for it and I will help’. Of course, we upgraded it and Paul loved being a DJ. He was very good at it.
Paul was my soul mate, we did everything together, more like brothers than father and son. We could read each other’s thoughts.
He was my world, my best friend and my son.