Donald Baumgartner Remembered In Music, Dance And Laughter

Donald and Donna Baumgartner at the Florentine Opera Company Grammy Party in 2012.

The Milwaukee Art Museum was the site Tuesday of “A Celebration of the Life of Donald Baumgartner,” the ebullient business executive, philanthropist and arts benefactor who died in his River Hills home at 95 on July 11. At the time of his death, he remained chairman of Paper Machinery Corporation, which controls 80% of the international paper cup trade.

The affair was co-hosted by opera enthusiast Mario Costantini, owner of furniture company La Lune Collection, and Michael Pink, the artistic director of the Milwaukee Ballet.

Donald Baumgartner and his wife Donna had made major gifts to the art museum, ballet and Florentine Opera Company as well as Milwaukee Film, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Next Door and Sculpture Milwaukee.

The 300 people who attended the celebration, each received a program outlining the evening’s schedule, which was to include a “Celebrate and Mingle” function from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with an open bar and catering by Shully’s.

The celebration included “Spoken Tributes” from Baumgartner’s children, business associates, no fewer than three MAM directors past and present, as well as architect Santiago Calatrava, whose 2001 structure, his first US commission, dramatically altered Milwaukee’s skyline while elevating its artistic stature nationally.

These reminiscences were punctuated by a suite of eight “Performances.” The first, Un Bel Di from Puccini‘s Madame Butterfly, rendered by Florentine Opera soloist Emily Michiko Jensen, brought Costantini to tears. “She always makes me cry,” he confessed to the audience. “It’s true.”

Jean McGrath, Baumgartner’s sister, recounted her brother’s childhood antics — and ambition. Their mother owned a restaurant, and the young boy took as naturally to work as he did to play. “Don’t wait to be a great man,” his father John, known as “The Skipper,” told him. “Be a great boy.” The boy was 40 when his daughter Keller Fitzsimmons was born, she said. By then Baumgartner’s Paper Machinery Corporation was an international success. Sure dad had money, she admitted, but he lavished it on his family, was generous with his work family and donated sumptuously to the community family.

Early this summer, when he saw the end coming, he told her: “This morning I met death and I am prepared. I took a tour, and it looks like it will be great.”

Scott Koehler, the CEO of PMC, gave a glimpse into the business workings of Baumgartner. On a whim, he might order 200 pizzas to be delivered for the workers. He was equally impulsive when it came to purchasing motor vehicles. Workers would ogle his “Ferrari, McLaren, Rolls Royce…” Koehler said. He wasn’t showing off, but was offering a demonstration: “If Donald were successful, his employees would be as well.” This proved to be the case, when in 2016, employees were called to a company picnic for a big announcement. Many feared the firm was to be sold. All were pleased when it was revealed that the company had established an employee stock ownership program, giving them an equity stake, and netting Baumgartner about $100 million less than if he had sold it to a private equity firm..

Whenever an employee’s family suffered a loss, Baumgartner would send a note of condolence, with some cash stuffed in. When the Skipper died, the workers returned the favor. The money was donated to charity.

Son John Baumgartner, who worked alongside his father, spoke of their many family adventures together. As he spun tales of travel, many photographs of Donald were projected on screens above the audience. We see him on a ski lift, kayak, yacht, speedboat, Harley-Davidson, train, airplane, helicopter, pony, and elephant. He wore the appropriate outfit for all of these occasions.

Yet, despite his riches, or as a consequence of them, he held a very Milwaukee attitude about expenses. “He was convinced he would find cheaper fuel at the next port, so running out of fuel was a real possibility.” Oh, Donald did differ from the Skipper, although both had a sense of “sartorial panache.” “Grandfather wore boat shoes while on deck. Dad wore loafers.”

Mark Corkins of the Rep delivered a stirring rendition of Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade. Jerek Fernández, who recently completed a two-year residency as a Baumgartner Studio Artist with the Florentine, performed Song of the Vagabonds, backed by the Florentine Opera Chorus, and MSO cellist Peter J. Thomas performed Bach’s Prelude in C Major.

Marcelle Polednik, who was named the first Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of MAM in 2016 following a $10 million endowment from the couple, was in attendance. She served until 2025 and said Donald told her, “The first may not be the best, but it is always memorable.” She was followed by Kim Sajet, now the second named director of the museum, who met the Baumgartners at their home on Sept. 22, 2025, as she introduced herself to the community. She mentioned the final ride Donald took, this one in the back of a hearse. As it passed the Calatrava, the museum staff stood outdoors as the Brise Soleil spread its wings in tribute.

David Gordon, the Englishman who took the helm of the museum in 2002, was dressed entirely in red for the event. “Kim is going to be a terrific director,” he said. He recounted that Donald insisted that the Calatrava “masterpiece” was to be built without any compromise. That meant money, and Donald found it. When Gordon was offered the position, he took a trip to Milwaukee to get the feel of the place. Following an evening spent at the Pfister Hotel, he walked out to find a warm, sunny May morning. (He would soon find out that such a day is exceedingly rare here.) When he took a glimpse of what would be his future workplace, he made a transatlantic call to his American wife, who had lived happily in Britain since 1973. When he told her the Milwaukee adventure “looks interesting,” she had a succinct response: “Oh shit.”

Although Calatrava was there in person, his tribute had been recorded previously. He spoke of the close bond he developed with Donald during his 40 visits here while the museum was under construction, citing his “elegance, humanity and integrity,” adding he would “treasure his memory for the rest of my life.”

The performances wrapped up with the Pas de Deux from Bruce Well‘s Midsummer Night’s Dream. This feat of levitation was performed by Milwaukee Ballet members Jennifer Hackbarth and Ivan Spitale. The former spent as much time in air as en pointe, as she was effortlessly lifted vertically high above the audience by her lithe partner. Then, a rousing One Day More, from Les Miserables, was given a rousing rendition performed by the soloists and artists of the Skylight Music Theatre, joined by the Florentine Opera Chorus. The cast and ensemble devolved into the audience to the tune of Conch Aint’ Got no Bones performed by The Calypsonians. It was one of Donald’s favorite tunes. What a way to go! Now, to Celebrate and Mingle…

The Attendees

The audience included many supporters of the various arts institutions of the community. Paul Krajniak, now retired for a decade from Discovery World, chatted up Sajet. She will be hosting Smithsonian Director (and her former boss) Lonnie R. Bunch III at the museum on Sept. 16 for an inaugural “From the Ground Up” speech in which he is expected to discuss his role in starting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016. The lecture is a collaboration between the museum, the nascent Bronzeville Center for the Arts and the Chipstone Foundation, with additional support from “Quad A” — The African American Art Alliance of the museum.

Bunch was front page news that day in both the Washington Post and the New York Times, as he had publicly announced his retirement from the institution where he spent nearly half of his 73 years. Sajet said that Bunch had called her earlier to give her “a heads up.” Anne Vogel said the “memorial was a true celebration of an exceptional life of philanthropy, world adventure and joie de vivre. She sat with Julilly Kohler. Developer Robert Joseph was there, as were his parents Bonnie and Leon. Later, Robert talked to Barry Mandel, whose $600 million real estate sale was of considerable interest in the community. Former Fiserv chief Jeff Yabuki, a museum trustee, was there with David Bader. Among Donald’s near contemporaries were former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and Steve Marcus. Marcus said his son Greg Marcus would not be playing his piano gig at their Saint Kate’s as usual that night, since he was flying to Hollywood to deal with theater people. (Both father and son have told me that although Marcus is among the nation’s top theater chains, (“number four,” Steve told me) the family is not particularly courted by the Hollywood elite.

John Shannon and Jan Serr were there. We were all surprised by the death of Dan Petry, the development director of Present Music, who had earlier held similar roles with the MSO and UWM. Shannon had spoken to a staff member at the university who said that even 10 years after he had been gone, she could still call Petry for advice. A memorial will be held in the future, he said. Kurt Chandler, who collaborated with Donald on his memoir With the Wind at his Back, also paid his respects. Also in the crowd were Patti Keating Kahn and Chuck Kahn along with Joe and Ellen Checota, who departed in a very understated (if such a thing is possible) late-model Rolls Royce.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson presented a proclamation honoring Baumgartner.

A Calatrava Original

Following the program, I went up to meet Santiago Calatrava, clutching my program and a Sharpie, which I thrust in his direction with an earnest, yet pleading look on my visage. “I do not sign autographs, but I will do this for you,” he said, as he deftly sketched a bird in flight. It reminds me of the Brise Soleil.

Santiago Calatrava autograph.

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