Paul Peter Pocus Sr. was just 12 and in the 7th grade when he had to drop out to help support his family during the Depression.
Family members said the teachers at his school agreed it was the right decision for the poor son of Lithuanian immigrants, who early on showed more raw talent for working with his hands than learning.
“In so many words they told him it was for the best, because he probably wouldn’t amount to anything anyway,” his daughter Polly Gonzalez said with a laugh. “What they failed to see was his drive, determination and his ability to work harder than anyone else.”
Mr. Pocus, 86, of Aurora, the founder and former owner of downtown Aurora’s longest-surviving car dealership, died of complications from a stroke Wednesday, Sept. 28, in Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora.
A lifelong Aurora resident, Mr. Pocus was a farm laborer, scrap metal collector and a bicycle repairman. He later worked for several years as an auto mechanic for a downtown shop.
During that time, Mr. Pocus met and married his wife of 46 years, Dorothy, who died in 1993.
“My mom used to say that he just enjoyed fixing things,” his daughter said.
In the late 1930s, Mr. Pocus and his late father, Stanley, opened a used-car dealership named Pocus Motors at River and Benton Streets in downtown Aurora. They began selling Packards and Studebakers when Aurora was home to dozens of automobile dealers, family members said. In 1956, Mr. Pocus acquired a Mercedes-Benz dealership, family members said.
As the only Mercedes dealer in Aurora and Naperville, Mr. Pocus stayed in business until he sold his dealership in 1994 at the age of 75.
“I first met Paul after buying a car from him more than 45 years ago,” said longtime friend Michael Witanowski, a retired Aurora physician. “He was open and honest, the kind of person you’d want as a friend, but he was also a very good businessman.”
Over the last year, Mr. Pocus sold all of his River Street property to a developer, who plans to build a condominium and restaurant complex on the site.
Other survivors include a son, Paul; another daughter, Cheryl; two grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; a great-grandchild; and longtime companion Nita Starinsky.
Mass has been said.
