Paul William Spinner

March 2, 1923- January 16, 2015

Paul W. Spinner, age 91, a wonderful father, grandfather, husband, and all- around curious student of the world passed away January 16, 2015 in Lake Forest, CA from respiratory failure.

Paul was born in Long Beach, CA to Pauline Victoria Wilson and Kenneth Markham Spinner. A fourth generation Californian, Paul graduated from Loyola High School in Los Angeles, and studied engineering at UCLA where he met Betty Anne Gasper, his wife for 58 years. At UCLA he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, a group which emerged as a wonderful golf and bridge compatriots in his retirement years. He served in the Naval ROTC while at UCLA, and joined the Navy on active duty before he finished his degree but returned after the war to earn a BS in Mechanical Engineering from USC.

After working his way through college, the war and a stint on night shifts in Los Angeles' fledgling aerospace industry, Paul joined Richfield Oil Company. He started at the refinery, moved into corporate management and stayed with the company for 35 years as it grew, became ARCO, relocated to New York City and returned to downtown Los Angeles. At 55 he happily opted for early retirement to "finally pursue all the things I'm really interested in." Paul was always learning, investigating, and sharing with you what he'd learned. Over decades Paul pursued various creative mediums—sculpture, oil painting, jewelry making, stained glass. He was affiliated with the Palos Verdes Art Center but never wanted to sell his creations because "then it becomes a business and I want to do this just for fun." He painted canvases for his wife Betty to needlepoint and together they played golf and traveled widely to the art and cultural and historical venues of Europe. Animal lovers, they also went to Africa three times. They were also avid supporters of the symphony; Paul's studio was always enrobed in sounds of classical concerts and he even "restarted" piano lessons at age 87.

Paul is survived by his son Gregory Spinner of Manhattan Beach, his wife Carol and their children Jonathan, Juliette and Jacques, and by his daughter, Jeanne Spinner LaMar of Irvine, her husband Steven and their children Kelly and John as well as his sister Anne Dyer.

A memorial celebration of Paul's life and his gifts will be held at McCormick & Son Mortuaries, 25000 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA, at 11 am, January 24, 2015.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to¬¬¬ Bowers Museum, 2002 Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92706, or the Irvine Adult Day Health Services, 20 Lake Road, Irvine, CA 92604.