Paulis Lazda

Paulis Lazda, professor of history and founder of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia in Riga, died on March 22 in Eau Claire, WI. He was 86.

He died at home after prolonged illness and is survived by his wife, Irene; children, Mara (Roark Atkinson), Andrejs (Anna), and J?nis (Alexis); and grandchildren, Kaiva Atkinson, Zanda Atkinson, Lija Lazda and Menno Lazda; brothers, J?nis (Velta) and Dainis (Anita). Paulis was born in the village of Birži, Latvia in 1938, the second of three sons, to J?nis Lazda, a Lutheran pastor, and his wife Margareta. In 1944, six-year-old Paulis and his family fled on foot with what they could carry, just hours ahead of the invading Soviet Army. Less fortunate relatives were deported to Siberia. Latvia would not again be free for a half century.

Fighting for Latvia's independence, keeping its language and culture alive, and reminding the world of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia's crimes would be his life's work.

After emigrating to the United States, Paulis grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, and pursued undergraduate studies in history at the University of Michigan and a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. It was in Madison that he met a beautiful young Latvian PhD student from Ohio, Irene Galins. They married six months later. Together they moved to Eau Claire, where they would raise their children and both taught at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - her office on the third floor, his on the seventh. You could spot them getting breakfast or lunch on campus, often holding hands.

Professor Lazda told his students history was something "I don't want you to simply know; I want you to understand." There was no better way to do that than take his students to Europe for traveling seminars and semesters abroad. With backpacks and a tight budget, Professor Lazda made history come alive for students in Krakow, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul and Cairo, lecturing on the world-shaping centuries past. Their visits to memorials and museums inspired him to plan for a history museum in an independent Latvia.

A dedicated professor, he was also an amazing father who created worlds to indulge his three children. He built train sets and go-karts. In the backyard, he erected fortresses, swings, and skating rinks. He strung up volleyball nets, made soccer fields and built skateboard ramps. In the same backyard, he and Irene hosted decades of student dinners and university faculty potlucks.

Eau Claire was the home Paulis loved and returned to, no matter where he traveled.

Latvia was again free in 1991. Paulis took up his campaign to establish what became the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, a place to learn about the horrors of Nazi wartime rule and Soviet occupation, to honor its victims, and to caution vigilance lest history repeat. In 1993, funded by donations from friends and family, the museum opened with a one-room exhibit in a vacated Soviet museum. Today, the museum hosts visiting heads of state and other dignitaries as part of Latvia's official diplomatic protocol and welcomes visitors to know and understand Latvia's darkest chapter.

As much as this mission took him to Latvia, Paulis was committed to his academic home of UWEC, where he taught for 47 years. Sharing his passion for history with students–and the Eau Claire community–remained at the heart of his work. He expanded study abroad programs that brought dozens of UWEC students to Latvia and oversaw the Dr. Aina Galejs scholarship to bring dozens of students from Latvia to UWEC.

Professor Lazda's contribution to the historical profession and to the community was recognized with numerous awards, including the UWEC Maxwell Schoenfeld Distinguished Professorship Award (2004) and several honorary doctorates, including the Latvian Science Academy (1998) and the University of Latvia (1999). In 2000, He received the Order of the Three Stars, the highest state decoration in Latvia.

Paulis Lazda left the world a better and richer place. But in his last days, he talked only of his gratitude for how much he had been given.

A visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 at Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral & Cremation Services, 814 First Ave., Eau Claire, WI. Online condolences may be expressed at lenmarkfh.com.

A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 at the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Minneapolis St Paul, 3152 17th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55407

A memorial service and celebration of life will take place in Riga, Latvia in the fall.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to the Occupation Museum. Checks may be made out to OMFA, and sent to Ilze Resnis, 10930 Nollwood Drive, Chardon, OH 44024, or by Paypal: donate.omfa-usa.org.