- Date Of Birth: October 31, 1949
- Date Of Death: July 14, 2014
- State: Maine
Paul R. Goth passed away peacefully in his home on July 14th after a year-long illness and a full life. He was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 31, 1949 to Robert Clarence Goth and Catharine Cullen Goth. Paul spent his first seven years in Michigan before moving to Lexington, Kentucky, where he graduated from Lexington Catholic High School in 1967. After a year at the University of Kentucky, he moved to Texas where he enlisted in the United States Air Force. During his 4 years of service, Paul trained in Intelligence as a Vietnamese interpreter, and completed more than 100 reconnaissance missions over Vietnam during the war. After his discharge, Paul enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin where he completed his BA, followed by his Masterââ¢s degree in Biomedical Engineering in 1980. He met his future wife, Brenda Grosse, in 1974 when she, quite literally, fell for him after tripping over his desk in a physics lab. They were married in 1979. Paul and Brenda moved to Orange County, California in the spring of 1980, where Paul began work with Baxter Healthcare Corp. In the next year he developed and patented a laser device to treat secondary cataracts, which remains the standard of treatment to this day. After 14 years of increasing responsibilities with Baxter, Paul went to work for Chiron Vision, where he created a worldwide service organization for the LASIC laser system for correcting eyesight. As part of that assignment, Paul, Brenda, and their children, Andrea and Will, moved to Munich, Germany in 1994, where he worked at Technolas, the German company instrumental in the development of LASIC. Paul always said that the years his family spent exploring Europe, making international friends and skiing, were some of the best of his life. In 1997, the family returned to California where Paul became Vice President of Research and Development and Regulatory Affairs for Bausch and Lomb. In 1999, Paul left B&L to help start a new venture medical company, Refractec, where he worked for the next 4 years. In the of summer 2003, Paul semi-retired, becoming a consultant for Refractec, and the family moved to coastal Maine to be close to and enjoy his extended family. He was active in the community, serving as head of the Damariscotta Baptist Church Council for several years, and working as a crewmember on the Hardy Boat. Here he discovered a new passion for the ocean and boating, leading Paul and Brenda to buy a 42ft 1988 trawler, the ââÅSidera”, with the dream of living aboard and traveling the 6000 mile American Great Loop waterway. In early 2013, Paul and Brenda spent several months in Virginia while Paul worked on retrofitting the boat before motoring it to Maine to enjoy; it was a magical period in their lives. Paulâââ¢s greatest pride and enjoyment in life was his family. Paul and his wife were blessed with a devoted 35 year marriage and two wonderful children in whom he delighted. Paul was an outstanding husband and dad, who, despite a busy travel schedule at work, made time to be active in his kidsââ⢠lives, refereeing for AYSO soccer and leading Boy Scouts. His sense of adventure and love of travel took his family all over the world, from skiing the Alps with Will, scuba diving with Andrea in the Red Sea, and boating on the Chesapeake Bay with Brenda. Paulâââ¢s friends and family will remember him as a natural leader who managed honestly, objectively, and with legendary patience. His analytical ability and practical skill made him indispensable in a crisis when he was always ready with a helping hand and quick smile. More than anything, Paulâââ¢s friends and family will remember his dry humor, his never-failing support, and his love. Paul was predeceased by his mother. He is survived by his father, Rob Goth; wife, Brenda Goth; daughter, Andrea Goth; son, Will Goth; brother and sister-in-law, Dr. Peter Goth and Wendy Pieh; sister, Cordelia Goth; three nephews, three nieces, and a host of friends who claimed him as family.
