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Paul's Memorial Service

Memorial service details per Paul's brother: "His memorial service
will be held on Saturday, January 8th at 2 pm, at the H.M. Patterson &
Son Canton Hill Chapel in Marietta, GA.

Details of the service will be
updated shortly on the website http://www.hmpattersoncantonhill.com/.
The service is open to all friends."

Paul's Memorial Paddle

The Cartecay River in Ellijay, GA this Sunday (January 9) in memory of Paul. Everyone will meet at the put-in at 11am.   

Porpon Pichanusakorn

July 11,1983 -January 1st 2011

Photo courtesy of Bryan Malone

Photo courtesy of Meghan Pendergast

Picture courtesy of Coty Inman

Picture courtesy of Coty Inman

Photo courtesy of Rick Thompson

Photo courtesy of Rick Thompson

Photo courtesy of Rick Thompson

Photo courtesy of Rick Thompson

Video from Ben Riekhof

From John Aplin

 
It was my pleasure to get to know Paul and paddle with him over the past year. 
His commitment to personal growth and improvement was equally impressive and
contagious.  Watching Paul strive for perfection made us all work harder and
think about becoming better paddlers.

I look for three overarching qualities in those whom which I prefer to paddle
with and Paul exhibited them all. 

Friendliness:  Paul never met a stranger.  He always had a smile on his face and
spoke with kind words.  It is this quality that makes others feel welcome and
included.  I distinctly remember talking with a gentleman riverside while
observing Paul playboating that stated “That guy hasn’t stop smilin’ yet..”

Positive Attitude:  Paul’s fun and playful attitude made every river trip a new
adventure, even if it was just another day on the Ocoee.  Sometimes we discount
or perhaps forget about the affect others have on our own experience.  Seeing
Paul having fun, laughing and playing heightened the overall experience for our
group. 
 
Progressive Personality:  As previously mentioned Paul was dedicated to growth
and improvement and demonstrated this quality in his paddling as well as his
professional life, being a successful business owner. 

 Paul Pichanusakorn will be missed and not forgotten.

Thank you,
John Aplin

From Ben Riekhof

Paul was a paddling buddy and a friend to me. Only a year ago, he was cluelessly thrashing around the pool, barely able to roll or brace. Since then, I've seen him progress at a remarkable rate. I witnessed his first hand rolls, double pumps, cartwheels, and loops. He was working on phonix monkeys at eternity hole when I last paddled with him.

As my friend john said, his positive attitude and progressive mentality were contagious. He made us all smile and strive to be better - not only with paddling but in all aspects of life. He was one of the kindest and positive people I've ever met. The paddling community has lost a great individual, too soon in his promising paddling career. As john said, he'll be missed but never forgotten.
 

Ben

From Rick Thompson

Friday night before he went to bed he replied to my Facebook request for some help with a curry recipe. As you can see from his post he was the kind of guy to go above and beyond for a friend in need.

I will miss you Paul. Thank you for your kindness and your friendship.

From Kelsey Hatcher

I originally met Paul, as someone else put it, “thrashing” about in the pool at an AWC roll practice last winter.  Fast forward to May.  I get an invite one weekend to go up to the Ocoee with Ben and John to paddle the Ocoee and help Paul and one or two others down the Ocoee.  It was Paul’s first time on the river and also the biggest/pushiest thing he’d run thus far.  He was planning on putting in below Slice and Dice, as many new to the river do, and running down from there, but me and Ben convinced him that he had the skills to put in at the top and run down with us from there. 

 The top section of the middle has most of the harder rapids on the river, and after keeping an eye out for Paul through a few of the, we realized that we wouldn’t have to worry too much about him, since he was styling everything.  Paul did great that day on the Ocoee and rapid after rapid, he had this big grin on his face and kept telling me “I love Ocoee!”  He even managed to unintentionally do one of the most awesome downriver moves I’ve seen on the river to date. 

 In running Tablesaw for the first time, he unknowingly lines up to go straight over the boof rock.  He goes sideways off the boof rock, flipping as he does so, and does a semi-barrel roll off the side of the boof rock, and seemingly as fast as he hits the water upside down, he’s back upright, joining me and Ben in the eddy at the end of the rapid, grinning like no other. 

He was always fun to paddle with, because no matter where he was, his enthusiasm was contagious and he always wanted to know more.  I paddled with him many times and frequently got calls and emails seeing if I was free and wanted to head to the river.  I will miss him, and the Atlanta paddling community will never be able to replace him and the joy he brought to the river.  Rest in peace, brother.  I hope that wherever you are now, you’re hucking huge drops to your heart’s content.

Kelsey Hatcher

From Rob Strangia

"I met Paul at the putin and only wish that I would have had the opportunity to have known him longer.  He was laughing and surfing with big smile on his face at the put in.  Since the accident, I've been learning from his family and friends about how wonderful of a person he was and about home much he will be missed.  We are all brothers on the river, his loss is tragic, & he will be missed."

Rob Strangia

From Bryan Malone

Paul and I first met at Georgia State's kayak school over 2 years ago. He was the one person from the group who fell in love with kayaking as much as I had. Paul never complained, never stopped smiling, and never stopped having a good time.  He was an amazing friend who truly wanted to share his passion of whitewater with everyone.  He was always trying to get new kayakers out on the water and help them learn to paddle. 

 His enthusiasm for kayaking was infectious, and it was an absolute pleasure to have known and paddled with him.  We have shared countless great times on the river together, and I will severely miss you buddy. May your heaven be filled with friends, family, and lots of whitewater.

From Travis T. Strickland

I learned of Porpon's death through a kayaking website out of Texas.  I was looking for a place for my wife and I to go paddling there, and on a website chat room. I saw that something had happened on the Tellico.  I clicked on the post and saw that an AJC article had been written about the incident, so, I clicked the link.  When I saw Porpon picture I gasped, literally.

I met Porpon at the GSU Whitewater class this summer.  He was the kind of person that let off this vibe that just let you know that you could approach him without hesitation.  Like many people have said already, he was always smiling and having a good time.

I spent a day with Porpon on the Tuckasegee River with the rest of the Whitewater class.  I had to leave early that day, and Porpon escorted me to the take out.  On our way in he gave me advice on how to learn more about kayaking, buy a decent boat, and was just an all-around nice person to me.

It's easy to forget how much just being a good person, and being nice means in the big scheme of things. 

My condolences to Porpons family and friends. 


Travis T. Strickland

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Email for Paul