Paul B. Wohlrab, who is vice president, superintendent and engineer of the Lavine Gear Company, at Racine, has worked his way upward through the wise use of time, talents and opportunities and is now one of the executive officers in a business which ranks second in extent and importance in that line in the country. He was born in Germany, May 1. 1873, and was liberally educated, receiving both high school and technical training in his native country. He was a young man of seventeen years when in 1890 he made the voyage to the new world, remaining a resident of Philadelphia for about one year, following which he came to Racine in 1891.
Mr. Wohlrab here entered the employ of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, with which he was associated for fifteen years, gaining constantly broadening experience and knowledge along lines which have qualified him to take up his present work. When he severed his connection with that corporation he became superintendent and manager of the Wisconsin Engine Company and so continued fur eight years. He was next with the Maryland Steel Company at Baltimore, Maryland, as superintendent of all mechanical departments for about a year and then went to Detroit, where he accepted the position of general superintendent of the Lozier Motor Company and so remained for a year. He next became superintendent of the Racine Manufacturing Company and withdrew from that position to become one of the members of the Lavine Gear Company, which was established in Racine in 1912. He was elected vice-president, superintendent and engineer of the plant and in that official connection has since bent his energies to the further direction and control of the business. The positions which he has occupied and the testimony of his colleagues and contemporaries establish him as one of the best posted mechanical men of the country.
On the 29th of December, 1896, Mr. Wohlrab was united in marriage to Miss Annie Breitsprecher, of Racine, by whom he has four children: Verna, Helen, Arthur and Ethel.
Mr. Wohlrab is a member of Racine Lodge No. 18, F. & A. M., and Racine Council No. 12, R. & S. M. In polities he maintains an independent course, voting for the candidate whom he regards as best qualified for office. He concentrates every effort upon the development of his business and his marked ability enables him to speak with authority upon many lines of mechanical construction. He believes in the maxim, “There is no excellence without labor,” and has ever followed it closely. Practical experience and broad study have gained him wide knowledge and his scientific attainments establish his position in the foremost rank of mechanics and engineers in the country.