Philip Arthur Graupner

Philip A. Graupner, a long-time resident of Door County, passed away peacefully at Scandia Village on January 7, 2025. He was 82. A true Renaissance man, Philip was a designer and builder of homes, an avid practitioner of the simple life, and in his retirement years, an archivist and translator of family letters and a first-person account of the American Civil War.

Philip, the son of a German immigrant, graduated from UW Stevens Point in 1965, majoring in math and German. Upon graduation, he departed for Germany where he lived for almost five years, attending art school and working in construction. Returning to the states in 1969, he attended the new School of Architecture at UW Milwaukee where he met fellow student, Minnow Emerson. Philip introduced Minnow to his landlady's daughter, Anne Haberland, and then joined Anne and her mother, Irene, in their pipe dream of renovating the old orchard barn they had purchased on Peninsula Players Road near Fish Creek. That old barn, with several renovations, became the iconic Edgewood Orchard Gallery. Anne and Minnow fell in love, got married, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Philip also fell in love--with Door County and took up residence. Philip began his construction career in Door County by building his own home. He single-handedly dismantled the old Lutheran Church in Baileys Harbor and hauled the lumber atop his VW bug to a building site on County Q, where he constructed his passive solar cottage. He became a home designer and builder, mostly in partnership with Jeff Ward of Ellison Bay, constructing unique homes and renovations throughout Door County. In his spare time, Philip was an accomplished artist, potter, pianist, chef and connoisseur of opera.

As he neared retirement age, Philip began a new passion. Through his travels in Germany, Philip learned that hundreds of family letters had been saved by the prior generations on both sides of the Atlantic, but these letters would likely be discarded in future years. Philip assembled these letters from near and distant relatives in Germany and America. In many cases, the German letters were written in a cursive script that even Germans can no longer read. This began a twenty-year crusade that resulted in about 2,000 letters being archived and translated and are now available for research at UW Madison. In a self-published book called Letters of the Graupner Family, Philip compiled the most poignant letters, covering the immigration period, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and the post-war struggle to recovery. In 2014, Philip translated and published a first-person account of the American Civil War, entitled Dark Days of the Civil War, that had been written by a German speaking Union officer. Philip's dogged determination for translation accuracy led to his petitioning county, state and federal officials to correct the spelling of two Door County creeks, Peil and Rieboldt, to be consistent with their German namesakes.

Philip is survived by four brothers, Kenneth (Pat), James, John (Kathy) and Charles (Deb); and fourteen nieces and nephews whom he loved and inspired.

He was predeceased by his parents; and sister, Cathryn.

A private memorial celebration will be held when springtime returns to Door County.

Casperson Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Sister Bay is assisting the Graupner family. Expressions of sympathy, memories, and photos of Philip may be shared with his family through his tribute page at www.CaspersonFuneralHome.com.

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