It is with great sadness that the family of Paul Peter McLaughlin, 78, affectionately known as “Opa,” announces his peaceful passing on May 4, 2020. For 52 years he was the beloved husband of his loving wife, Dagmar.
Paul was a spiritual man, lived a full life and was known by everyone as a true gentleman. His common sense, intelligence, integrity and devotion to his family was exceptional. Paul truly left the world a better place.
Paul’s optimistic approach to life allowed him to build companies, forge lasting relationships and embrace family and friends wholeheartedly. He loved family dinners, having coffee on Thursday mornings with his Harley HOG group, cross country motorcycle rides with his “Brother Bob”, son Pauli, and son-in-law, John, playing golf, fixing anything around the house that needed fixing and spending time with his grandchildren.
Born in Newton, MA. Paul was the son of George and Patricia McLaughlin. He attended Babson College in Wellesley, MA and remained an active alumnus throughout his life and continued close relationships with friends from Babson until his passing. After college, he worked for the Malden Trust Company as a bank manager and later started and owned his own packaging company.
The majority of his career was spent at the Butcher Polish Company where he was Vice President of International Operations and was ultimately named President and CEO. As President he was integral to the sale of Butcher’s to SC Johnson Wax in 2000. One of his fondest memories was helping Charlie Butcher share $18 million of the proceeds from the sale of the company with Butcher’s long-time employees.
After retiring from Butcher’s, Paul enrolled in Harley Davidson’s mechanic school and went on to become a motorcycle mechanic at American Harley Davidson in Leominster. Riding was always a passion and Paul began a tradition of riding across the U.S. on his Harley for two weeks each summer and did it a total of 15 times, shipping his bike out to Los Angeles or to his son Pauli’s house in Portland, and riding back to Boston.
Never one to stay idle or out of the business world, Paul served on several company Boards and also volunteered as a part-time financial advisor for Acton Pharmaceuticals, a start-up Sequoia Capital venture backed company co-founded by his son-in-law. Paul was an integral part of building the initial infrastructure and helped get the company off to a successful start. The company later sold for over $120 million.
Paul also enjoyed volunteering his time to his community. He served on the Finance Committee in Stow, MA. He volunteered at St. Isadore’s Parish, doing everything from hanging shelves to replacing the kneelers in the church, and he also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.
He is survived by his devoted wife Dagmar of Stow, MA; their children and spouses: Sonja and John Simon of Sudbury, MA and Paul and Wendee McLaughlin of Lake Oswego, OR; grandchildren Alexis Jones, Christopher Jones, Emma Simon, Lauren Simon, Josie McLaughlin and Ian McLaughlin; a sister Virginia Trumble of Wilmington, NC, a brother and sister-in-law Robert and Francine McLaughlin of Guam, as well as a larger extended family including nephews and nieces and their families across the country.
A celebration of Paul’s life will be held on a future date when his friends and family can safely gather together in person to honor a life of integrity and grace.
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