Paul G. Melia

Age 89, born December 4 1929 passed away August 11 in Kettering Ohio with hospice care. Paul was born in Dayton, lived in New York and Cincinnati, then resided in Kettering. He graduated from Chaminade High School and The Dayton Art institute. Paul, a talented, award winning artist, was a positive life force who truly connected with everyone he met. He put his family and his faith first and never let his lifelong battle with asthma and heart problems slow him down.


Paul started drawing as a young boy and never stopped! He worked as a commercial illustrator at H&H Art Studio in Dayton for 24 years where he developed his unique artistic style. He then launched a 55 year freelance career that brought in regional and national clients including many Fortune 500 companies. The pinnacle of his commercial career was a commissioned poster for the Vatican which featured portraits of all of the popes.

As a fine artist Paul gained a national reputation for innovation using water media. He has won hundreds of awards, honored as an American Watercolor Society Dolphin Fellow, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohio Watercolor Society and has been featured in dozens of articles and books. His unique style layers information, memories and places in an energetic composition. It can take many viewings of his pieces to discover the hidden messages! His fine art has been collected worldwide and his signature piece "Sohio Man" won the First Place Grand Award in the Canadian Aim For the Arts International Exhibit.

Paul loved meeting and connecting with people which inspired in his signature style of drawing and painting family portraits. He had an innate ability to see something unique and positive in everyone who was seated for a portrait and the experience for the person being drawn was always as unique as the finished product. Paul painted thousands of portraits in his lifetime spanning multiple family generations across the US. He also loved to teach aspiring artists and nurture their growth in drawing and painting.

Paul also loved music, he was a drummer since he was young, he played and sang in his family’s band.

Paul loved his work but his wife and family always came first. He was an exceptionally devoted, caring husband and father. His energy and sense of humor were a wonderful part of our lives. His (sometimes!) intentional bad fashion sense, cartoon character imitations and jokes combined with his enthusiasm for our interests always inspired us to be creative. This infectious enthusiasm for life has guided the lives of his children, grandchildren and the many people he touched in his life.

Paul and his wife Carole loved to travel together and with the family. Starting with their honeymoon trip to the Grand Canyon, they continued visiting far-flung relatives in a 1966 VW Bus when their four children were young. They took yearly portrait trips to Connecticut, Georgia and Florida, loved to take journeys to Europe, and most importantly, traveled to see family and grandkids.

Paul loved sports, great movies, family time and most of all he loved life.

The family gives a heartfelt thanks to the excellent medical care he received throughout his life from multiple doctors, hospitals, nurses and aides.

He will be greatly missed but his spirit and energy that touched our lives will always be a part of us.

God gave us all a great gift in Paul.