Paul George Sotirin

Passed away peacefully on January 8, 2018 at the age of 92.

Paul was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 4, 1925 to George and Anna (nee Addam) Papasotirin, the youngest of their three children: Anastacia, Samuel, and Paul. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Milwaukee in 1943 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served in the Pacific theater from June 1943 to February 1946 with the 767 Tank Battalion.

He received his Bachelors degree majoring in History from Marquette University in 1951 and his Masters degree in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1952. After graduation, he joined the Milwaukee Public Library where he established the Great Lakes Marine Collection and the Local Genealogical collection and was Director of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. He also served as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Association and was a member of the Civil War Roundtable and the Great Lakes Marine Society. In 1968, he became the founding Director of the New Berlin Public Library and served until his retirement in 1993. He was active in the New Berlin Lions Club.

Paul married Muriel Sterland on January 1, 1948 in her hometown of Winnipeg, Canada. Together they raised five children. He was a devoted family man. Muriel passed away in 2003. In 2004, Paul married former librarian Lorraine Hartwick and they lived in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Paul is preceded in death by his first wife Muriel and sister Anastacia. He is survived by his wife Lorraine (nee Hartwick), his brother Sam (Thespo), and his loving children Patricia, Barbara, Christine (Scott Bakkum), Paula, and Robert (Jill Sotirin nee Troudt). He will be missed by his nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be held Friday, January 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM at St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church, N27 W2400 Paul Court, Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Burial at Highland Memorial Park on Greenfield Avenue, New Berlin.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Paul Sotirin may be made to either the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation, 814 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53233; or Kirkland Crossings, 700 Quinlan Drive, Pewaukee, Wisconsin where Paul and Lorraine have resided for the past eight years.