Paul Charles Simonini was born May 23,1883 at Erie & Noble Streets in Chicago. He was the oldest son of immigrant parents, Felix & Mary Rose (nee Dasso).
As a youth Paul’s hobbies included fancy kite making, pigeon raising and sports of all kinds, especially ice skating and football. In his 20’s he even played for the Chicago Spauldings and actually competed in one of the first professional football games ever, which happened to be played indoors at the Chicago Coliseum.
Paul graduated from Chicago English Manual Training High School (Crane Tech. H.S.) in 1902. He then worked his way through the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana over an 8-year period, graduating in 1911 with a BSME.
