Ed Pauls, Inventor of NordicTrack, Dies at 80
Edward Arthur Pauls passed away quietly at home in Montrose on Sunday, October 9.
Born in 1931 to Arthur and Anne (Boedecker) Pauls in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Ed was the second of two boys. He grew up on a dairy farm near Wausau, Wisconsin, became a mechanical engineer, and moved to Minneapolis. He met his wife, Florence Melhuse, in the Ullr Ski Club. Ed and Flo married in 1959 and shared their love of outdoor activities with their son, Glenn, and daughter, Terri. In addition to alpine skiing, the family cross-country skied, ice skated, camped, canoed rivers, water skied, sailed, bicycled, scuba dived, and, on the first of several trips to southwest Colorado in the early 1980s, explored the San Juan Mountains via jeep.
In 1976 Ed invented the NordicTrack, starting a family business that grew from his garage to the American Dream. Previously, he had also invented the Flipski outrigger for adaptive skiing, and the Rosemount ski boot and binding system. Ed piloted a small private airplane, flying as far as Alaska to visit Terri. Ed and Flo retired to Utah, where they enjoyed years of powder skiing at Alta and exploring the state's canyon country. After Glenn and his family moved to Telluride, Ed and Flo bought a second home in Montrose for their later years. Ed and Flo recently donated 290 acres to the city of Durango for preservation as open space, and preserved another 62 acres nearby as a conservation easement in 2006.
Ed is survived by wife Florence Pauls, son Glenn Pauls, daughter Terri Pauls, grandchildren Kara (Dittrich) Gray and Trevor Pauls, daughter-in-law Dianne Pauls, and grandson-in-law Rick Gray. A funeral will be held at Crippin Funeral Home, 802 East Main Street, Montrose, on Saturday, October 15 at 4:00 pm. Either flowers or donations to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org) are welcome. Condolences may also be sent to the family at www.crippinfuneralhome.com.
