We have sadly lost another FTM friend. Paul DeRitis was found floating in Portage Creek ,in Kalamazoo ,MI ,after a night of drinking, on March 25th. Here's the obituary:
In Celebration of a life well lived
Paul DeRitis, 41, of Fort Myers, FL passed away on March 25, 2012. A longtime resident of Fort Myers, Paul attended Ft. Myers Beach Elementary School, Bonita Middle School and Cypress Lake High School. Paul was a GED graduate. He was a talented artist, musician and a loving father and son. He is survived by a daughter, Tabitha M. (Matthew) Smith; sons, Vincent Paul DeRitis and Paul Alfredo DeRitis and 2 grandchildren, Maxton and Miles Smith; also surviving are his parents, Lucinda and Anthony DeRitis; sister, Christine (Charles) Curran and brothers, Anthony DeRitis and Phillip (Dani) DeRitis; his grandmother, Mary Bruch of Boone, NC as well as aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. A Memorial Service will be held at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Funeral Home on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 12 Noon. Online condolences may be made to the family at
http://www.fortmyersmemorial.com/. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the family in care of Anthony DeRitis, 11640 Oakdale Dr., Ft. Myers, FL 33908.
There is a service for him tomorrow in Ft. Myers ,but the reason I'm posting this is : Paul gave me this 4-track ,unmixed tape ,over 20 years ago ,when Vance ,Brophy ,and I were starting SEXBOY ,and needed a guitarist. But ,alas ,Paul was already playing in 3 different bands at the time ,and had 3 jobs ,and was married with kids ,problems none of the rest of us had at that time.I never listened to or mixed down the tape ,until now. It's really weird that a couple of weeks ago ,I had found the tape ,and toyed with the idea of laying down some vocals over Paul's music. Then Vance called me with the bad news. There are 11 cuts of pure rock n' roll ,Johnny Thunders style punk ,mostly instrumental stuff ,although ,Paul does sing on a few songs at the end. All untitled songs ,and I've also included the demo and e.p. from Paul's 1993 band ,SPANK. This unreleased shit is probably from a couple of years after Spank. Paul was a member of the seminal Ft. Myers teenage punk combo ,THE ROTTEN NUNS ,and the leader of JOHNNY AND THE SUICIDES ,as well as many other bands. He was an accomplished tattoo artist as well. You can see the progression in pictures ,from Johnny Thunders worship ,to Mike Ness/Social Distortion worship (I personally think he looked more like Joe Strummer of The Clash!) ,but he was always rockin'! I didn't know Paul very well ,but I knew enough about him to realize he was one of the good guys. We ran in the same circles ,had many of the same friends ,and loved the same music. Paul was a rock star ,and should have been properly recognized as such! I hope that everyone who knew Paul ,gets to hear this stuff ,and I hope he picks up new fans ,even in death. I wish I could be there for his memorial ,I'm sure I would re-connect with many friends I have'nt seen in years ,but it is not to be. Please leave comments to the memory of Paul DeRitis ,he would appreciate that ,I'm sure.And I'm sure his family would be pleased to hear this lost tape that Paul recorded in the mid-90's! You will be sorely missed ,my friend. The world will not be the same without you in it! Please listen to one of the greatest undiscovered talents in our world ,Paul Deritis.
CLICK HERE:
http://archive.org/download/LollyGag-PaulDeritisUnreleasedDemosSpankDemoAndEp/LollyGag-PaulDeritisDemos-plusSpankDemoAndEp.zip
