Mr. Paul Richard Saracelli, Jr., age 77, of Raleigh, NC, suddenly passed away on June 11, 2020. He was the son of the late Paul Richard Saracelli Sr., and Leona Taft Saracelli. Paul was born on January 14, 1943, in Carthage, NY. He grew up in North Tarrytown, NY, where he lived with his grandmother Elsie Taft and his aunt Pat Taft. He is survived by his devoted wife Kristine, having celebrated their 38th anniversary on June 5.

Paul was proud of his time in the Marine Corps. He served in Cuba and at the airbase in DaNang Vietnam, where he repaired radios for tanks and jeeps in support of the front line combat troops. He was hired by IBM in 1968 to repair mainframe computers and associated hardware for the Field Engineering division, for which he was awarded two IBM Means Service awards. During his IBM career he worked in various headquarters staff positions, and held several management positions until his retirement in 1998. When Kris started Sew Unique, Paul expertly repaired countless customer’s sewing and embroidery machines.

Paul loved hiking. Together, he and Kris hiked the Grand Canyon twice, even rim to rim in 1995, and many other National Parks in the west. He loved to travel, and had visited Portugal, England, the Islands, and most of the states in the US. He loved the beach, model trains, astronomy, bird watching, and computers. He especially loved being in his backyard enjoying the company of his dogs.

“If tears could build a stairway And memories a lane, I’d walk right up to heaven And bring you home again”