Michael Earl (Pitts) Paul, 56, of Elmwood Park, died Saturday, May 26, 2018 at Westlake Hospital, Melrose Park, Ill.  A funeral mass will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Rock Island.  A rosary will be recited at 3:30 p.m. Thursday followed by visitation from 4-7 p.m. at the Knox Chapel of Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, 2106 7th Ave., Rock Island.  Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery, Rock Island.  Memorials may be made in care of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

Michael was born April 3, 1962, a son of Arlin and Cecelia Jones Pitts.  He graduated from East Leyden High School in Franklin Park, Ill. and later attended the University of Illinois.

Michael married Kathleen Paul in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. in 1989.  Michael and Kathleen had two children.  They later divorced.

Prior to his illness, Michael enjoyed playing the tuba.  Most recently, he enjoyed playing video games.

Those left to cherish his memory include his children, Leslie (Jeffery) Dickson, Rock Island and David Paul, Elwood, Ill.; father, Arlin Pitts, Indiana; sister, Gail Geffe; and an aunt, Patricia (Arthur) Horn, Wheaton, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his mother.