Person:Carl Paulsen (1)

Carl worked for the Heinz Company first as an accountant, then administrator (Chairman of the Board). With his wonderfully deep voice he sang in choirs, and was active in the Prespeterian Church. He enjoyed gardening. Donna remembers a story about "pop" when he was about 3 years old. His mother (Ethel) was making fruit bread and Carl was watching her put in the ingredients. As she was finishing, Carl all of a sudden spit into the bowl. Ethel was shocked! Carl's reply as to why....."Everything else was going in!" Dave and Carol remember at every restaurant where they ate, he check to make sure there was Heinz ketchup. If they didn't have Heinz, Carl would give them a lecture. He loved his cigarettes and martinis.

CARL PAULSEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

    Carl Paulsen was born on September 26th 1911 in Akron Ohio. The first of three children of Victor H. and Ethel Carl Paulsen. My brother Dick is 76 this year and sister Dorothy is 64.
    Most of our early lives we lived in Lakewood Ohio where we all graduated from Lakewood High school. We all attended and were active in the Lakewood Christian Church. My mother and I both sang in their choir.
    From the time I was 10  I worked peddling papers and mowing lawns at first; then I worked in Billy Fisher's grocery store after school and all day Saturday which in Junior High my pay there was $3.00 per week. All through High school I worked for the Standard Drug Co. as a soda jerker; finally becoming fountain manager. I was paid $.25 per hour or $1.50 per six hour shift. As the fountain manager I made $.50 per hour.
    Since I worked during High School I was not active in sports; however I sang in the men's chorus, played golf, rode horses and raised "tumbling pigeons".

I graduated from High School in 1929 and attended Western Reserve University for two semesters. The 1929 stock market crash ended that endeavor and I secured a job with the Cleveland sales branch of the H.J. Heinz Company planning on going to night school; however that was impossible as we worked in the office from 7:30 A.M. till 5:30 and half days on Saturdays (7:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.). My starting pay was $60.00 per month, we worked at least 4 nights a week till 11:30 and all overtime was included in the $60.00. My first salary change was in 1931 when we received a 10% cut, so I made $54.00 per month then till NRA came in and we all were increased to $65.00 per month and worked only 48 hours per week. By 1936 I became assistant office manager and was making $135.00 per month. So Irene Schurer, who also worked in the office, and I fell in love and I asked her father for her hand in marriage. He agreed and we were married October 17th, 1937 at the Parma South Presbyterian Church. In 1932 my folks had purchased a new house in Lakewood and the family lived there together until I married. My grandmother Carl (my mother's mother) also made her home there. My father rented the old home to others over these years but, as luck would have it, it became available and Irene and I rented it for $50.00 per month. It also had a separate upstairs apartment which we sub-let for $30.00 per month with all utilities paid by us. Our oldest daughter Janice was born there in April 1939 and we had a lot of good times there. However, in 1940 we decided we should have our own home and by 1941 we moved into a six room home, built to our plans in an area close to Irene's folks in Parma Ohio. David, our son, was born in September that year and we were truly a happy family. Later in 1941 I was asked to transfer to the home office of J.J. Heinz Company in Pittsburgh PA. This was quite a shock to all, but an opportunity that II couldn't turn down. So after our one Christmas in our new home I began to commute between Cleveland and Pittsburgh and continued to do this leaving Cleveland Sunday night at 11 P.M. by overnite train and arriving in Pittsburgh at 6:30 A.M. on Monday. Working there all week and returning to Cleveland on the 7:00 P.M. train. We bought a home in Pittsburgh at 450 Haverhill Rd, Mr. Lebannon PA for $8250 and sold the Parma house for $7500. (we had paid $6250 for it). It was on April Fool's Day 1942 that we moved to 450 Haverhill and what a day! The move was sort of coordinated with an opportunity for me, as about that time I was asked to become the administrative assistant to Frank Armour and we started the War Production Division of H.J.H.Co. to make inboard and outboard wings for the CG4A glider that became very important in the invasion of Italy and France. Our division when totaled 1300 employees. We finished our "beans to bombers" efforts with the surrender of Germany and Japan, and then during the early part of that period I was classified 1-A and finally given 30 days to prepare to join the army. A ruling was made by the defense department that married men my age with 2 children would no longer be required to serve. Our youngest daughter, Donna was born in 1945. After War Production I became administrative assistant in the manufacturing division, then again assistant to Frank Armour who became Exec. V.P. of Heinz U.S.A. I worked in the Executive office in that capacity, with Mr. Armour, until be became president. Then with two other Ex. V.P.'s. Wanting more responsibilities I became Manager of the Blennd Division of H.J.C.Co. after 4 years on my own, the division was made part of the marketing division and I became a Product Manager. From there I became assistant to the General Manager of that distribution division and I worked in that division until I decided to retire. Then, as I still had a year to go till I was 62, I agreed to be the Heinz representative to the National Alliance of Business in their downtown offices. I became office manager with that organization and continued with them until I retired in 1973. 43 years with H.J.H.Co.. During those years we had a great life at 450 Haverhill. In 1944 we joined the Sunset Hills Presbyterian Church, while they were meeting in the Kindergarten area of the Julia Ward Howe grade school. (which all three kids attended). Irene and I were both active there but became more active when we moved into the new Sunset Hills Church in 1946. We both sang in the choir, Irene was active as a Sunday School teacher, with the Women's guild and helping with organizing the kitchen and congregational dinners, etc. I was Sunday school superintendent , taught Sunday school, was an elder and clerk of session. The kids were also active; Jan taught Sunday school and all joined the church there. We continued to improve the house and yard area during all the years we lived there. We were a healthy group and enjoyed. Dave however, on a visit in 1984 saw me cutting the lawn and mentioned that perhaps by that time I had cut the lawn as many times as he had. Janice studied secretarial courses and graduated from Westminister College. She then worked for Alcoa, married, put her husband through seminary and became a ministers wife and mother of two girls, Marty and Jenna, both of whom are now married and she has one grandchild. Jan has also worked the past 11 years for J.C.Penney Co. David graduated from West Va. Univ. with a bachelor of Science degree. He became a fighter pilot through their ROTC program. (See his Air Force data. Also understand he is doing one of these resumes.) Donna graduated from the Pgh School of Design then attended college in Missouri, worked there for a radio station, went west and lived with her aunt and uncle, married Richard T. Boyle, lives in Camp Verde, AZ, has raised three children, worked for a school system, helped them install computers, took computer courses and now sells, repairs, and maintains computers through her own business. Irene died in 1985. I continued the modernization of our home but got lonely in being my myself. I spent time visiting Alaska, Arizona, and friends in other places but the house wasn't the same without her. I attended the memorial service for friend and co-worker at Heinz, Warren Cook, in May 1988, renewed the friendship with his wife Helen and took her to dinner a couple of times. Then held her and at a movie, asked her to marry me, she agreed; sold the house for $80,000 and we were married Sept 4, 1988. I invested in her 3 bedroom apartment in Friendship Village of South Hills (a life care community) and, if I can quit having things go wrong with me, we plan on enjoying together the years we have left.

Hand written by Carl Paulsen, About 1990 Typed version by Cindy Smith, 1998 (I respectfully apologize for any typos or words that I misread.)

1. ↑ Dick Paulsen & Grace Paulsen & family oral histories. Paulsen Family History.