Will Paicius, who taught 3D Animation classes at De Anza, died on April 12th of heart attack. He was 58.

Paicius, who had degrees in Life Sciences, Electrical Engineering, and Animation/Computer Arts, had taught introduction to advanced classes in 3D computer animation at De Anza for close to ten years.

“He was a pivotal figure in the development of the 3D animation classes at De Anza,” Director of De Anza’s animation program, Martin McNamara said. “Students really picked up on his intensity and drive.”

He was humorous but tough, and his students appreciated those traits.

“There was a purpose for the toughness,” his student Joel Natanauan said.

“He forced his students to do the things they thought they couldn’t do,” another student Robert Pendleton added. “Will pushed us further because he wanted us to succeed.”

An enthusiast of J-pop, anime, and potato chips, Paicius was very open to different cultures. He greeted his students with a little bow or a namaste to make those from other cultures feel more comfortable.

Colleague Dave Perry described him as “gregarious. He was a big, happy guy.”

Paicius had prizes-on-a-stick, ranging from books, DVDs to flash drives for the student voted the most helpful classmate during the quarter. He wanted the students to learn so they could teach.

He was a teacher willing to do trips to Starbucks to help his students fix their projects, and he showed them step-by-step tapes on how to do certain motions or special effects.

Paicius was also good at giving suggestions for his students’ reels, accurately pointing out mistakes and figuring ways to fix them with his students. He had his students stood up and jumped so they could do a motion study on each other’s movements.

“Teaching was his life,” Perry said. “It was what he did.”

Paicius was always pushing for the latest hardware, pushing the limits of the software for his students. He wanted his students to be up to date with the technology used on the field.

Ryan Chilton, Paicius’ student who became a finalist for the 2008 Media Arts Award Competition, said he made his students understood at the end of the quarter that they had accomplished something.

“It was refreshing to have an instructor who was as enthusiastic about teaching as Will. He tried to be more like one of the students,” Chilton said.

At the end of the quarter, Will would bring cookies and Martinelli’s sparkling cider for his toast tradition. Toasts were made for the class’ unfinished projects that didn’t get to be shown, for projects that were actually finished, for Marty, short for Martin McNamara, and for all his students whom he said were the upcoming generation of animators.

He refused when a student proposed a toast for him. “He was very humble,” Pendleton said. But they did it anyway. “We hope our appreciation reached him that day. He will be missed by the people here.”