Paul Stevens Verner, age 63, died peacefully at his home on Monday, October 19. He was born on June 6, 1957, in Fort Worth, Texas, the third child of Mildred Broome and Walter Eugene Verner. He graduated from Raleigh Egypt High School and attended the University of Memphis. After working in several fields, he returned to school to become a nurse, graduating in 1998, and serving as president of the Student Nursing Government Association. He worked in Memphis for several years at local hospitals before settling in as a travelling Emergency Room nurse. He spent many years in California and also worked in Texas, Maine, and Arizona. He eventually retired from nursing for health reasons.

Paul was a character, but not accidentally, he wasn't an oddball. He was a character in the way an artist is- cultivated and eccentric, not a good time Charlie but a bon vivant, not a guy who could spin a yarn but a raconteur. It's more than a difference in the wording. He was tender-hearted, sentimental, extravagant and wildly impractical. He spent hours sending illustrated letters to his family and friends. He loved literature, especially The Goldfinch, his cats, Miss Wina and Marie, classic automobiles, and staying in touch with friends from childhood and beyond. He especially loved his three special girls, who predeceased him, his sister Susan, his grandmother Margaret, and his beloved mother Millie, and his father Buck. He had close relationships with all of his grandparents and family.

He leaves behind his sister Carol and her husband Dennis, his brother Tim and his wife Kathy, and his sister Susan's husband Larry. He adored his nephews, Jamie, Taylor, Nick and Camp, and also his niece Mary Stevens who predeceased him. He planned occasional movie nights to get the guys together, and also devoted many hours to entertaining the little ones in past decades. For one 4 year old nephew he orchestrated a months long series of letters, newspaper classified ads, photos, and a scavenger hunt, to solve the mystery of the Turtle in the Box.

Arrangements will be handled by Forest Hill East, with a graveside service at Big Creek Cemetery in Millington, at 10 AM on Saturday. He will be serenaded with Bach's Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, as he wished.