Paul Rottman's Obituary
PAUL JOSEPH (“PJ”) ROTTMAN
December 16, 1952 – October 24, 2014
He blew off his college finals to go skiing out west with his buddy Kurt. He married a feisty Irish
girl named Bridget. He went to Fish Camp with 8 friends—27 years in a row. He golfed and
fished and skied and hunted and travelled and boated and went to Packers games with friends,
always with friends; of which he had many. He was Paul Rottman, and the world will be a
sadder place without him.
Paul died October 24 after a long illness. Through it all, he never complained, never got mad,
never got down. In fact, quite the opposite. He had a twinkle in his eye almost to the end, his
legendary sense of humor keenly intact. He knew the inevitable was coming; he just didn’t see
the point in getting depressed about it.
If you asked Paul’s best friends to paint a picture of who he was as a person, the first thing
you’d invariably hear, “he never had a bad word to say about anybody, ever, in all the time we
knew him.” Did we mention that he was a killer chef and loved to entertain? He was happy to be
alive and fun to be around.
Paul grew up in Fond du Lac with his adoptive parents Ann and George Rottman, both of whom
preceded him in death. He is survived by the love of his life, Bridget (nee Murphy) whom he
married in 1981, perfectly balancing her Irish temper for 33 years; his brother John (Susan)
Rottman; in-laws Mike, Pat and Colleen Murphy; and many nieces and nephews, two of whom
he considered his very own: nephew Joe (Lila) Litchfield and their baby on board; and niece
Molly (Dave) Rider and their children, JJ and Drew.
Paul majored in Urban Planning at UW-Oshkosh, which he put to good use with a lifelong
career in the sales promotion industry (by now you know he had the perfect personality and
temperament for sales). He owned his own business, PJR Promotions, since 2004 and worked
at Festival Foods for a change of pace. Prior to that, he held sales positions at 4imprint, Heads
Up Promotions and Top Brands, among other places.
Some things most people didn’t know about Paul: he was a voracious reader, consuming two
newspapers every day to stay on top of world events. He played Big Deal in his college prep
school Wayland Academy’s rendition of West Side Story and could still sing all the words to
“When You’re a Jet”—and he sounded good. And he was an incredible all-around athlete in his
day, being named the “best 6th man in the state” for his high school basketball team. And Paul
dearly relished his younger years on the farm with all of his cousins.
Visitation for Paul is planned for 3-5pm with a memorial service following, on Tuesday, October
28 at Fiss & Bills-Poklasny Funeral Home in Oshkosh. In lieu of flowers, donations may be
made to the P.J. Rottman Memorial at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.
Fiss & Bills Funeral Home & Crematory
865 S. Westhaven Drive
Oshkosh, WI 54904
(920) 235-1170
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