Paul Louis Bollinger of Chelsea, age 87, passed away at home on Thursday, June 1, 2017, in the same house where he was born.
He was born on April 17, 1930, in Sylvan Township, the son of Gottlieb J. and Elesa L. (Kopp) Bollinger. Paul graduated from Chelsea High School in 1948 and was the former owner of Bollinger’s Sanitation and Excavating which he began in 1951. He was a former board member of the Oak Grove Cemetery Association and began digging graves for cemeteries in the area in 1950. Paul was a local expert on genealogy and cemetery plotting. He served as a volunteer fireman for 17 years and had served as Trustee for the Village of Chelsea.
Paul was the Antique Tractor Pull Superintendent for both the Chelsea and Dexter Community Fairs for 20 years. He had the largest collection of Waterloo Boy tractors and stationary engines in the world and also collected Griswold pottery. He was a wine maker and enjoyed making sauerkraut. On a seven-week vacation he traveled 8,000 miles in a 1967 Fan trailer and only ate out three times. Paul was an exceptionally kind and generous man and will be greatly missed by all.
A Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, at the Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea, with Rev. Ann Salyer officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery, Chelsea. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Sunday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. and Monday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m.
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