E. Michael Paturis

He was a brilliant lawyer who built an extraordinary career from very humble beginnings. Graduating with high honors and awards from UNC Chapel Hill for both his Undergraduate and Law degrees, he began as a prosecuting attorney for the IRS, went on to be a partner in a prestigious firm in Washington DC and then started his own practice in 1979 where he remained till his retirement. But his greatest accomplishment wasn't his career. It was the family he built.

My dad grew up with poverty and a father who gave him little reason to believe in love. Yet he broke that cycle. He devoted more than 61 years to my mother, and he gave me something he had never been given: a father who loved me.

He was strict, funny, sometimes exasperating, and always there. I never doubted his love for me. However, his greatest joy was his granddaughters, Nicole and Jackie. He was immensely proud of them, and they cared for him so lovingly at the end.

He built a remarkable career, but more importantly, he built a family where the next generation knew what it felt like to be loved by a father and grandfather.

That is the legacy he leaves us.

A Funeral Service will be held at Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 2815 36th St NW, Washington, DC 20007 on August 20, 2026 at 10:00 am.