Paul’s affiliation with Wisconsin was through Scandinavian relatives who emigrated to northern Door County in the late 1800’s; however, he was born and raised in suburban Chicago. His family returned to Ephraim often to stay at their original log cabin that had an outhouse, and the running water was from a pump in the front yard. There were four big bedrooms upstairs, a potbellied stove for heat, a wood stove for cooking and red and white curtains and tablecloth in the kitchen.

He graduated from NIU in 1969 with a B.S. in Industrial Personnel Supervision, specializing in metals. He moved to Athens, GA, received an M Ed in Trade and Industrial Education and taught welding in a vocational high school for four years and three years in a vocational technical college. Later, he and his wife, Anne, opened their goldsmithing shop, Carats & Karats, in 1980. They ran the shop in Ephraim for 38 years during the summer and fall seasons and returned to Athens for the winter. Because they appreciate art and for business purposes, they have had many trips to Europe to do business and see the museums. In the early 1990’s they became very interested in ancient jewelry styles, so they researched it in a Masters of Fine Arts program at the University of Georgia, where Paul received an MFA in Jewelry and Metalworking in 1997, specializing in ancient jewelry and metalworking techniques and high karat gold.

Paul and Anne have always enjoyed (preferred) classical music and were supporters of the PMF, but they got excited about chamber music around 2010. They believe MM is an excitingly fine organization performing music wonderfully. They feel that it fills a great need in Door County and should continue lifting the spirits of the county and region. Aside from being entertaining, it also has an educational arm for appreciating and learning about classical music as another aspect of its mission. Therefore, it has always been their pleasure to volunteer for its after-concert receptions, and they look forward to continuing in that capacity and in other new ways.