Paul Kettenburg

1913-2006

Paul Kettenburg was 10 years younger then his brother George Jr. He also had a different way of looking at what he wanted to do with his life. In the Late 1920'a and early '30s, the pleasure boat business was down because of the Depression. Paul, at the invitation of a girlfriend's father, left San Diego after High School graduation (in 1933) and went to Chicago to attend the World's Fair. Shortly thereafter, he was offered a job with General Electric in the Heating and Air Conditioning business. He returned to San Diego by bus to tell his family, and immediately headed back to Chicago in his 1932 Ford V-8 Roadster to go to work! He expected to be gone a year or two, but stayed 10 years. During WWII, GE invested time and money into the war effort, thus (as an engineer in charge of the air conditioning division) Paul was not able to leave the company until 1943, when he returned to San Diego. By this time, brother George had Kettenboatworks up and running with a full crew. Paul came on as a Systems Engineer. As years went by, Paul took on an important roll, testing and designing systems. He designed the K-38 because he wanted a cruising yacht, but one smaller than the 46' PCC. PC #78, BLUE CHIP II was built for Paul in 1948. Along with brother in law, Morgan Miller, Paul was responsible for setting up and organizing the Kettenburg Marine retail stores which were of the largest and most successful on the west coast. With the passing of brother George, Paul (with the help of the Kettenburg principals) kept the business alive and growing, until it was sold. Paul lived in the Kettenburg home on part of the Point Loma land that his father purchased in 1913. He has served as Commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club and continued, for years, to attend the Wednesday Yachtsmans Luncheons weekly. He also attended the annual Ancient Mariners Sailing Society Kettenburg Regatta where he often sailed and spoke to the group after the regatta. He always had time for conversation with friends to share stories about Kettenburg Boat works. Paul was a fine gentleman and a respected friend. He will be missed.

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