Generous, kind and caring Paolo a ‘legend’ in his adopted Lurgan

He owned Paolo’s Pizzas on the High Street, which became not just a business for Amin, but a home from home for his ‘friends’ to get a delicious meal.

Amin Mohammad passed away on February 3 this year, after a battle with cancer. He was just 65 years old.

Into those 65 years he packed a wealth of experience, travel and knowledge most of us could only imagine.

Born on December 1, 1956, in Lahore, Pakistan, to Dean and Hanifa Mohammad, he spent his childhood years there until his father passed away when Amin was merely eight years of age. Soon after, Amin’s mother also passed away, when he was just 12 years old.

Amin travelled to Europe during his teenage years and had seen most of the world by his late 20s, working as a chef on a cruise ship and in the markets across Europe and South America, before settling in Brescia, Italy, where he undertook military service.

In Italy his first son, Nadim, was born. He spent many years in Italy raising Nadim to be the man he is today, a businessman in his own right, in Brescia, attributing his skills in commerce and his outgoing personality to his father.

Amin later moved to Lurgan, where his sister Tasneem had settled. Here he met the mother of three of his children, Shantelle (23), Dean (22), and Amin (20).

His son Dean said: “Deborah Louise Dunwoodie had a child, Stefan (28) from a previous relationship. He treated Stefan as if he was his own child from when they met, when Stefan was aged three. Even when he had children of his own, they were all shown the same love and care.”

On February 21, 2003, Amin married Naureen, with whom he was to open Paolo’s Pizzas, where they worked together every day. Naureen described Amin as a man “dear to so many, full of joy and gratitude…who loved his community, taking pride in helping others”.

She added that Amin was at his happiest when having banter with his friends and sharing his many worldly experiences. To Naureen, Amin was everything, and she will dearly miss him being at her side.

Amin’s early life in Lurgan began as a delivery driver for a local pizza takeaway and working in the markets in Castle Lane.

Jamie Serplus recalls the first day Amin arrived in Lurgan, at Moutray’s Store, when he had just closed and set the alarm. Jamie opened the store for him, and Amin told him he would never forget that moment of kindness.

Jamie became a regular customer of Paolo’s Pizza and said that Paolo would always throw in extra food and drink each time he came to the shop.

Amin’s son Dean said: “It wouldn’t be a rare occasion that my dad would go the extra mile for a customer. He never saw them as customers; he saw them as friends and family, and he was a firm believer in looking after your friends and family.

“He would always ask how they are keeping and how are their families, and before they left, he would put something free to their order.”

Dean is certain his father never forgot the kindness of those he first met when he moved to Lurgan.

He added: “Many of the people of Lurgan showed him kindness when he moved here, and he had never forgotten it. His kind personality and his appreciation and gratefulness for what others did for him when he needed help were clearly at the forefront of why he was how he was with customers.”

Amin was known to most as Paolo. His gentle and caring nature was always on display when serving his customers, or as he described them, ‘friends’. Every customer was either his brother or sister, daughter, or son. No one was a stranger at Paolo’s Pizzas.

His daughter Shantelle said: “The love and kindness he showed to everyone he met was always in his truest form.”

Amin had built up such a rapport with his customers that they dubbed him a ‘Lurgan legend’. For many of his customers he was a true friend and he treated them like true friends, but, ultimately, family was his priority and those he loved and held dearest.

Dean said: “My dad was the backbone of the family. He would never see his children without anything they needed. He did not drink or smoke, and he never gambled. He worked every day of his life for his children to make sure that they had everything they ever needed.

“He was the most caring, loving, gentle father. He truly loved his children. He cherished every moment with us and would always ask us to call to the shop on the days he didn’t see us.

“He was also the firm and serious father when it came to my education.

“My dad believed in hard work to get ahead in life. He didn’t have any advantages growing up and lived a very hard life, with losing his parents at a very young age.

“He wasn’t given the opportunities of a great education. His path to his success was a very long and challenging one.

“He didn’t want this life for his children. He ensured that we embraced the opportunities available to us and studied and worked hard to be able to get everything we want in life.

“He did not want us to experience the challenges he had to face to become the successful businessman he was. He knew there was an easier path for us.”

Amin was a hardworking man, but he also enjoyed a few hobbies in his downtime.

His son Amin said: “My dad had a few hobbies. One of which was singing, and he was very good at it. He told us that in another life he would have been a singer.

“A few years ago he recorded five of his own songs that he would play for Naureen and his children in the car if we were going somewhere. He was very proud of them. We were proud of him.

“My dad also loved gardening as a younger man. He also spoke 11 languages, many of them fluently, including English, Urdu, Italian and Spanish. He would often practise with his niece, who was studying languages, to help her learn.”

Amin recently moved from his house in Sloan Street, where he had lived for 20 years, to Charles Baron Crescent, and was looking forward to his retirement and spending time with his grand daughter Tara.

His daughter Shantelle said: “We could write a book about all the things that we loved about our dad.

“My dad always joked about; he was always humorous. To say that he was always happy is an understatement; his smiles were infectious, and his laugh is something we will always miss hearing. He was always full of banter and knew the craic.

“What struck us the most, and made us realise that my father was stronger than we ever anticipated due to his kind, gentle and sensitive nature, is that even through his illness, he stayed strong and put on a brave face, despite the unfortunate fate which awaited him. He protected us from this and ensured that we did not experience stress.”

Paolo was not just a great family man. He cared about his community and the anecdotal stories of him putting extra food in people’s take ways, particularly those less fortunate, are legendary.

His son Dean said: “The posts and support for my dad when he passed says a lot about his personality and the type of man he was. He was friendly and engaging with customers. He was so enthusiastic about his shop. To his customers he was a legend and a gentleman.

“He was caring and looked after them and their families. When we saw the positive outburst on social media regarding my dad, we were comforted in knowing they seen my dad how we had always seen him, which is a kind-hearted, good-natured gentleman.”

Amin’s wife Naureen and family have set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the Mandeville Unit at Craigavon Area Hospital that took excellent care of him during the last months of his illness.

Amin is survived by his five children – Nadim (35), Stefan (28), Shantelle (23), Dean (22) and Amin (20).

To donate to the fundraising page in aid of the Mandeville Unit, this is the link www.gofundme.com/f/For-Mandeville-Unit-in-Loving-Memory-of-Amin-Paolo

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Heavy flooding in Lurgan and Craigavon leaves some roads impassable Read full story here-

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