Jerry Paulsen, the founder of a small empire of mostly food-related businesses from Minnesota and Wisconsin to Sanibel, Fla. sought refuge from the rigors of daily work at his lake home near Annandale for the past half century.
Paulsen died at age 89 on Friday, April 5, leaving behind a legacy of 37 stores, a summer home known as "The Farm" near Clearwater and Cedar lakes, and goodwill among all who encountered him in the Annandale area.
While Paulsen kept a relatively low profile in Annandale, preferring to spend his time at The Farm in rest and the enjoyment of his family, he was also a generous host. His daughter, Char Shadduck, still lives in Annandale with her husband Bob, who is corporate president of Paulsen’s enterprises.
Char Shadduck explained that Paulsen, who started his career as a butcher before founding Jerry’s Foods and taking ownership of many other grocery stores under different names like Cub, County Market and Save-A-Lot, originally built a lake cabin on the north shore of Clearwater Lake around 1962.
Shadduck and her two sisters quickly became friends with other young teens on Clearwater Beach, and enjoyed summers spent out at the lake.
One of her best friends was Diane Barkley, another "city girl" who eventually married Annandale native Blaine Barkley and moved to the area permanently.
"We didn’t see a lot of Jerry. When they stayed at the cabin he would commute into work and come home late, tired. I remember as a youngster seeing him come home to a wonderful dinner prepared by his wonderful wife, and he would lean back and just smile at his daughters and take that in," said Diane. "He lived the dream in his vocation, but also in his family.
"When I became a young adult and went on to the real world I realized that those long hours were producing something that I wasn’t aware of as a youngster. As a kid growing up with him I saw how hard he worked. And then I saw the fruits of his labor, and wow."
‘A six day a week guy’
Annandale filled a unique need for the innovative, hard-working Paulsen.
"My dad was kind of a workaholic, a six days a week guy. It had to be close enough to the cities that he could come out on Friday night and go back and work on Saturday and come back on Saturday night," said Shadduck.
While Paulsen experienced both success and reverses after opening Jerry’s Lucky Dollar in Edina in 1950, his operations eventually stabilized and his reach expanded to various commercial enterprises as well as his main grocery efforts. As his proceeds grew, however, his profile in the local area stayed low key.
"To most people, he was just another guy," said Blaine. "Jerry and his family never really had what I might call a wealthy arrogance to them that sometimes you see in people."
There were signs of prosperity, however. Around 1970 Paulsen purchased The Farm and set about turning it into an idyllic location for rest and relaxation. He added a pool, tennis court, gardens and even a small golf course.
"The family did not know that he had the golf course in mind until one day we were driving by on County Road 6 and saw several big earth-moving pieces of equipment. So we had to go to him and ask what was going on," Shadduck remembered with a laugh. "He was a character."
Resort for family, workers
What Paulsen had in mind was a sort of resort where he could welcome his family as well as his employees for retreats.
"He would host events for his store managers. They would have golf tournaments," said Diane. "I sensed in talking to them at the funeral that they felt part of his family, his 3,500 employees. The upper management really appreciated what he taught them as far as work ethic, but also to take time to relax and get to know each other and talk about other things."
Jerry Heitz of South Haven was one of those store managers. After heading up a Florida location, he eventually moved to the area and took over operations at Minnesota Meat Masters in Annandale, which produced soups and hot dishes and salads for Paulsen’s delis, and now produces sausage.
Having been one of Paulsen’s employees since 1979, Heitz said that Paulsen was an outstanding boss who truly did make his employees feel like family by inviting them out to The Farm for golf outings and other events about a half dozen times per year.
"The man knew what he was doing," he said. "If he wouldn’t have done what he did, I wouldn’t be where I am now after 33 years."
Part of Paulsen’s success in expanding was due to Bob Shadduck’s influence on the business. After running his own law practice in Annandale, Bob joined Paulsen’s company full time in 1987, and brought an interest in real estate and development.
"That kind of became his niche of the business," said Char.
Booming business made it all the more important to have a place to relax, and Diane said that Paulsen set an example in how to work hard, and how to step away from it all and cherish family time.
"If I could take away what I have learned from him it was hard work, but also how to have a relaxing time. He created that, enjoying the birds and flowers and his gardens," she said.
Though Paulsen avoided the limelight in Annandale, his local legacy lives on through the Shadduck family. Char and Bob’s daughters Kristin (Marcus) Fahey and Amy (Jim) Miller still live in town, and a third daughter Melissa Schaefer works with Jerry’s in the cities.
In the eyes of friends, Paulsen’s life was one well lived, with humble beginnings, hard work and ultimate success, all in the context of proper priorities and an emphasis on family.
Diane summed it up best.
"They started with nothing," she said. "And they lived the dream."
Paulsen’s obituary appears on page 2B.