Paul L. Balmer, 84, popular figure in West Philadelphia

WHEN A MAN named Cornelius arrived at the home of Paul and Anne Mae Balmer in West Philadelphia, he was comatose, almost zombielike. All the life seemed to have been taken out of him by the institutions that had lodged him before he became a member of the Balmer household.

But it wasn't long before Cornelius responded to the care and compassion he received in that remarkable household.

"Before long, we were joking and laughing with him," said Shanta, the youngest member of the family. "He became part of the family."

Cornelius' story is just one of the amazing turnarounds affected by the Balmers in the more than 40 years in which they devoted their lives to the care of elderly and infirm men and women, many of whom were neglected or mistreated by their previous caregivers.

Shanta estimates that her parents cared for literally hundreds of these patients over the years, sacrificing their time, their comfort, their privacy, their finances out of pure human compassion.

"They certainly didn't do it for the money," Shanta said.

Paul L. Balmer, a 21-year employee of the Postal Service and Army veteran of the Korean War, died Dec. 28 of complications of diabetes and other ailments. He was 84.

Paul was a popular figure in his West Philadelphia neighborhood where he befriended a couple of generations of kids.

"My father had six kids, but he was the father of all the kids in the neighborhood," Shanta said.

In addition, neighbors knew that if they were down on their luck, they could always get a square meal and even a place to stay from the Balmers.

The couple began their care of the elderly and infirm when Anne Mae Balmer came home from the nursing home where she was employed and announced that the patients she saw there weren't being properly cared for. Something had to be done.

That was the beginning. They opened their home on Conestoga Street and brought their new charges in. The patients took over bedrooms, and it was soon clear that there wasn't enough room.

The couple moved to a larger house on 62nd Street. Shanta said there were as many as 17 guests at one time. Daughters chipped in to help; the Balmers slept on a pullout bed.

They charged fees amounting to about half what nursing homes charged. The patients came from various institutions, including the notorious Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, which closed in 1987.

In the loving care of the Balmers, the patients perked up and began to live again. There were many stories of restoration like that of Cornelius. Most of the patients lived out their lives with the Balmers.

Anne Mae died in 1998, and the family wondered if her husband would continue their work.

"Mae wants me to do it," he said. "So I'm going to do it."

The numbers of patients dwindled, however, and the family moved back to the smaller quarters on Conestoga Street. The number of patients dwindled and the last left in the early 2000s.

Paul Balmer was born in Jackson, N.C., to Robert and Lear Balmer. He was educated in schools there and entered the Army. He served as a medic in Korea and Germany before his discharge in 1953.

He married Anne Mae Wall, whom he had known since grade school in North Carolina, after his discharge. He worked at the 9th and Market streets post office until he left on disability in 1976.

Besides his daughter, Shanta Anthony, he is survived by four other daughters, Imogene Cisco, Rose Mason, Susan Killen and Julia Balmer; a son, John Balmer, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Services: 10 a.m. tomorrow at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 5539 Vine St. Friends may call at 8 a.m. Burial will be at Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Chester.