I graduated from NMU in 1968 with a BS in Biology. My wife, Margaret, was raised in AuTrain, Michigan and we have two daughters and a son, plus four grandkids. After graduation, I taught Middle School Life Science in the EastDePere School District, located south of Green Bay, Wisconsin, for 40 years. During my time, I coached football, basketball, and track. It was not unusual to have children of Green Bay Packer personnel on our teams. BartStar’s two boys for example were members of our teams. I was not a Lions fan for long after moving down here!
I still remember walking from our Dow Chemical Company house, up Presque Isle to where I took a shortcut through NMU’s campus. Up the stairs by the new Lydia Olson Library, in front of the Peter White Science Building, then Hall, and finally Longyear Hall. From there, it was a
quick jog across Kay Street, to St. Michael’s Grade School. I just knew I was going to NMU when I got big.
I earned tuition money for NMU at the Dow Chemical Plant; people talk about the smell and dirt drifting from the plant, but the paychecks fit neither of those descriptions! I remember arriving 10 minutes late for Dr. Jim Merry’s Botany class. He asked me, why was I late for his 8 AM
class. I told him that I worked a four to midnight shift at the Dow, and my relief failed to show up so I had to work till eight this morning. “Why work a sixteen-hour shift?” he asked. I told him I need to pay you for this class! He just smiled and put me to work making slides.
I also worked for the Soo Line in Marquette, and did minor repair work on top of the abandoned Ore Dock in the downtown harbor. I eventually worked out of Chicago during the summers as a machine foreman to Minneapolis, and then all across the beautiful Upper Peninsula. After this
job ended, I worked as a commercial salmon fisherman on the Yukon River in Alaska for numerous summers.
How did I get to DePere from Marquette? Someone in the placement office called and said a principal was there from DePere, and wanted to see me tomorrow at noon at his dorm. That morning, I was working at the Wright Street railroad crossing by NMU. I was, to say the least, filthy and
sweaty! I got there at noon. When the principal opened the door, I apologized for my appearance, and told him what I had been doing. I was hesitant to shake his hand with my dirty hand, but he gave me a firm handshake! After my short interview, he said, “Interested in the job?”. Of course, I said yes.
Sad, all those classic NMU buildings are gone, attended many classes there. The former Dow Chemical Plant is a grass field and the company houses are gone. The Soo Line
(ex DSS&ARR) that I remember well, are only memories.
Paul pictured in the middle.