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“I met Paula when I was on leave from the Marines—at a party for Paula’s 19th birthday,” says Gary Vital. “Two months later, I asked her to marry me.” That was in 1975, and they were married for 46 years when Paula died very suddenly and unexpectedly in April 2024. 

In the beginning of their married life, Gary juggled two jobs—one was pool construction and maintenance—and Paula balanced part-time work as a teacher’s aide along with managing their household with three children—a daughter and twin boys. But that meant spending a lot of time apart, so Paula started working on pool jobs with Gary. 

To start out, they ran Aquidneck Pool & Spas out of their home. Paula envisioned something bigger and better: a storefront. Paula and Gary invested their entire savings of $6,000 and opened Aquidneck Pools & Spas store in Portsmouth in 1995. “Early on there were some days that no customers came in the store,” recalls Gary, “and we would wonder if we had done the right thing.” 

Neither had formal college training or knowledge of business management. But, undaunted, over the course of 30 years created a multimillion-dollar business. Paula and Gary made the most of every situation, even spending one anniversary installing an above-ground pool in the rain, laughing all the way. Their children, as well as their children’s friends, were all involved in the business—building and cleaning pools, working in the store.  

The family lived in Tiverton since the year after they got married. Paula grew up four houses up the street. Two of the kids now live within blocks of the family home. “We were always a close family,” says Ali, the oldest.  “We took road trips to Florida. Our friends came too. My mother was always so generous—our house was always welcoming.” They went on cruises together, sometimes a couple dozen friends and family. In fact, Paula died the day after they returned from one such cruise.”  

“She would have been so proud that we’ve set up these two funds at the Rhode Island Foundation,” says Gary. The two funds—for Tiverton and Portsmouth high schools—will offer $6,000 each to a high school senior who wants to start their own business.  “$6000 is significant because it is what we started our business with—everything we had at the time.” 

When Gary retired early from the military, taking a leap of faith that the pool company would support them, he had no way of knowing that their investment and efforts would pay back many times over. “It gave us the opportunity to do so many things as a family,” says Gary. “We would not change a thing.”