Paul Andrew Cloos

FAIRHOPE, AL   Paul Andrew Cloos, of Fairhope, died Thursday (Oct. 27, 2011) at University of South Alabama Medical center of complications after surgery to repair injury from a motorcycle accident Oct. 13. He was assistant managing editor of the Mobile Press- Register, responsible for the Mobile edition of al.com. He is survived by his wife, Liliana Patricia Gomez  Cloos, and their daughter Maria Isabel.; and daughters by his previous marriage, Tallula Rose and Carol Lily Cloos of Asheville, N.C.  Also his father, Edward J. Cloos, Jr., of  Rochester, N.Y., and Seagrove Beach, Fla.; brothers Edward J. Cloos III of Covington, La, Jonathan A. Cloos of Capitola, Fla., and Gregory P. Cloos of Horse Shoe, N.C. ; uncle Kenneth Wesolowski , of Hiram, Ga, and aunt Paulette Dillon of Ocean, N.J. He is predeceased by his mother, Carol (Wesolowski). Born Feb. 2, 1964 in Rochester, N.Y., he was an honors graduate of McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester.  In high school , he was a varsity runner in track and a member of the championship cross-country team. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with an honors degree in English in 1986.  He was a news man all of his working life, first at the Saratogian in Saratoga Springs, NY, then at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.,  where he was an assistant metro editor,  before  joining the Mobile newspapers  as an editor in 1994. He quickly was named city editor, and was promoted to assistant managing editor in 1999, overseeing the newspaper’s local and regional newsgathering, with a special emphasis on investigative journalism. In those roles, he orchestrated the newspaper’s coverage of major breaking news events, such as Hurricanes Erin, Opal Danny and Georges, and the 193-vehicle pileup on the Interstate 10 Bayway in 1995, the largest chain-eaction wreck in U.S. history. He served as lead editor for a wide range of award-winning investigative journalism projects, notably probes of misspending and corruption in the administrations of Govs. Fob James and Don Siegelman. In 2008, he became the newspaper’s first Web editor. In that position he rapidly elevated the Press-Register’s presence on the Internet, launched  web-skills training for the newsroom, and helped energize and create a new vision for al.com, the newspaper’s web partner,  in 2008. He was a member of the Leadership Mobile Class of 1996. An avid golfer, he twice was club champion in his flight at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear. Funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, at St. Lawrence Church in Fairhope. Burial will be in Belforest Catholic Cemetery in Daphne.   ARRANGEMENTS BY WOLFE-BAYVIEW FUNERAL HOMES & CREMATORY, INC. 19698 GREENO ROAD FAIRHOPE, AL 36532