Paul Leonard Callahan of Stone Lake, WI passed away on December 28th after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of September.

He was born on November 20, 1933 to Rachel and Leonard on the family farm near Twin Lakes, Minnesota, where he grew up with twelve brothers and sisters. Paul was an outstanding wrestler in the 110-pound class for the Albert Lea Tigers, graduating in 1951. After high school, Paul worked at Queen Stove Works in Albert Lea, served in the US Army for two years in Orleans, France, and played first base for the Twin Lakes Gophers Baseball Team. It was through the Gophers that he met and fell in love with the centerfielder’s sister, Pauline Gavle. The two married on November 15, 1958 in Albert Lea and embarked on a sixty-year romance as Paul and Pauline -- a match truly made in heaven. Paul became a barber in Iowa, working in Iowa City and Oskaloosa before opening Paul’s Drive In Barber Shop in Fort Dodge, where he and Pauline lived for nearly thirty years, raising their family and making many dear friends. In his mid-fifties, after putting four children through college, Paul and Pauline purchased “the cabin” on Stone Lake in Northern Wisconsin, a place already near and dear to their hearts having vacationed there for years when it was owned by Pauline’s brother (the afore-mentioned centerfielder). A year after that purchase, at age 55, Paul pulled up stakes, sold the barber shop in Fort Dodge and moved to Minneapolis, where he worked in apartment maintenance for ten years in order to be close to the cabin. After retiring in 2000, Paul and Pauline moved permanently to Stone Lake, where they welcomed their growing family and countless friends from far and wide.

Paul was a devoted volunteer to the Hayward Community Food Shelf and also served the Lion’s Club, the Knights of Columbus, Habitat for Humanity and the St. Joseph Catholic Church. He enjoyed Nordic skiing and raced in the Kortelopet for many years. Paul and Pauline traveled widely, visiting Alaska, Mexico, England, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Austria. But Stone Lake was his home and his absolute favorite place in the world. Paul loved being outside, summer or winter, in the water and woods around the cabin. But Paul was happiest with his family -- teaching his grandchildren how to drive his little red pickup, remodeling a deck with his kids and their spouses or having a glass of wine at the end of the dock with his beloved Pauline. Paul greeted every day and each person he met with a huge, open heart, a heart that was recently broken on November 29th, 2018, when his beautiful daughter Angie died of cancer at her home in Woodbury.

Paul is survived by his wife, Pauline; son Matt (Teresa) Callahan of Minneapolis, MN; son-in-law Todd Sexe of Woodbury, MN; son Mitch Callahan of Minnetonka, MN; daughter Molly (Terry) Brooke of Cottage Grove, MN; eleven grandchildren: Cameron (Kendall), Morgan (Alex), Hannah, Rose, Conrad, Mariah, Vince, April, Ellie, Charlie and Brady; three sisters (Theresa, Maureen and Harriet), one brother (Mike), and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers, two sisters and his sweet daughter Angie.

A funeral mass be held at 11:00 AM on January 5th at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hayward, Fr. Gerard Willger officiating. Visitation will be at the Parish Center on January 4th from 4 until 6. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Hayward Community Food Shelf, 16216 W Hwy 63, Hayward, WI, 54843.

Last Update: Jan 03, 2019 2:14 pm CST