Paul Leonard Nuccilli

Paul Leonard Nuccilli, 79, of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, passed away on September 25, 2025, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer's and primary progressive aphasia. He is survived by his daughter, Maria (Neil), along with many beloved friends and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents and by Maria's mother, Joann.

Paul was a natural storyteller, quick with a joke and full of charm. Even as his illness gradually took his words, the humor and kindness that defined him remained.

He was born in Detroit on June 24, 1946, the cherished only child of Leonard and Kathryn. He enjoyed an idyllic childhood on Seminole Street in a duplex shared with his mother's parents, just off the I-94 service drive. He fondly recalled the construction of the freeway, sneaking into the big hole to play with the other neighborhood kids.

Paul learned how to drive in his grandfather's crank-start car when he was still in grade school, and much to his mother's horror, occasionally manned the wheel all the way from the east side of Detroit to the family farm at what is now 16 Mile and Utica. Paul's "Little Grandpa" was a skilled woodworker who crafted mangers from scrap wood and sold them at Hudson's downtown. Paul delighted in helping him gather wood for the mangers and other projects, and spent many happy hours assisting him in his basement workshop. Family and friends may remember the legendary story of the time Paul severed his thumb experimenting with a table saw undersupervised around age 12-successfully reattached by a young resident physician, leaving only a small scar.

Paul attended Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School through the eighth grade before his family moved to College Street near City Airport. He went on to De La Salle Collegiate High School, where he excelled as a varsity bowler, and worked at Ramona Lanes near 6 Mile and Gratiot.

Inspired by his father, an automotive tool and die maker, Paul pursued mechanical engineering at the University of Detroit, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering with a minor in English and was in ROTC. Friends may remember the time when he rushed home to get his guitar amp so a young Bob Seger could borrow it during a gig at the university.

Upon graduation, Paul joined the Army Reserves and got his first engineering job at Fruehauf Trailer. He later served on active duty as a First Lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, applying his mechanical engineering expertise at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland.

In 1973, he got his dream job as a development engineer at Ford, where he spent 32 years in the "X-Garage." His specialty was noise and vibration. The highlight of his engineering career was his work on the 1990s relaunch of the Mustang, winning Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1994.

Paul met his future wife Joann at a wedding in 1977. They married in 1981, settling in Grosse Pointe Farms and welcoming their daughter, Maria, in 1988. Paul was a devoted family man, always there to support those he cared about, and his daughter was his world. Some of his most cherished memories as a father were attending daddy-daughter dances and seasonal campouts with the Lakeshore YMCA. He also cared lovingly for his aging parents through the end of their lives.

One of Paul's many hobbies was boating: first a Catalina sailboat he shared with his brother-in-law, then a Carver powerboat, and finally his dream boat, a "seaworthy" 40' 1987 Tollycraft. Most days in the summer you could find him at the Pier Park taking care of his boat or just enjoying the water view.

He loved working on cars and was a regular at the local self-serve auto salvage yards. He was handy around the house, too (often quoting Red Green: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy") and always had the right tool for the job. He loved the Detroit Tigers, was a big fan of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and was known to make an excellent key lime pie. Above everything, he had a big heart-he would drop everything to help anyone who needed him.

Paul had a lifelong love of music, fondly remembering late nights spent listening to far away radio stations on his homemade transistor radio, and Winsdor's legendary CKLW. In his younger days he attended many concerts at the Grande Ballroom and Eastown Theatre, and had an impressive knowledge of obscure doo-wop records and early Detroit rock and roll. One of his classic stories recounted meeting Little Anthony & the Imperials at a rest stop while on a road trip to the west coast with an army buddy in the early 1970s. That evening, Little Anthony put them on the guest list for his show at Disneyland and later shouted out, "Hey Detroit!" to him during the performance.

He shared his love of music with his daughter, attending concerts together and listening to the "Old 'n Gold" rare oldies show on WDTR 90.9 FM most Sunday nights. When Maria started playing drums in high school, he would drive her and her band to every gig they had in his big Ford Econoline before they were old enough to drive themselves.

Paul retired from Ford in 2005, and in 2011 he began dividing his time between Naples, Fla., and Grosse Pointe Woods. He loved spending his summers with friends and family on the water in Elk Rapids, Mich. Unfortunately, his plans of a long and productive retirement were cut short when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and primary progressive aphasia in 2018. He spent the remainder of his life supported by the care of his daughter Maria and son-in-law, Neil. Though his disease progressed through the years, he remained the same independent, kind, charming man so many knew and loved.

His family is deeply grateful to the care teams at Arden Courts of Sterling Heights, his home for the past year, and Assured Hospice, who provided compassionate support during his final days.

Paul will be remembered for his generous spirit, sharp sense of humor, engineering mindset, and unwavering loyalty.

A Memorial Visitation for Paul will take place on Thursday, October 23rd from 4:00-8:00pm, with a rosary service at 6:30pm at Chas. Verheyden, Inc., 16300 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Park. A Memorial Mass will be held on Friday, October 24th. The family will receive guests at 9:30am until the start of the Mass at 10:00am at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church, 157 Lake Shore Rd., Grosse Pointe Farms.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in his memory be made to the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, https://www.detroitseniorsolution.org/how-to-give/donate/ or the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, https://www.cskdetroit.org/en/donate/

Share memories of Paul with his family at Verheyden.org