LAKE COUNTY, California – Longtime Lakeport businessman and entrepreneur Paul Racine passed peacefully at his lakeside home on July 11, 2020.

Born Paul Edgar Racine on Aug. 18, 1943, Racine was raised in the coastal town of Fort Bragg where his family owned and operated Racine’s, a retail store that has been a fixture of downtown Fort Bragg for many years.

Upon graduation from Fort Bragg High School at 17, Racine enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served with intelligence units in Germany and Turkey.

He returned home at age 21 and enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College. There he met the woman who would become his wife, Olga Carmiggelt.

Together they started Paul Racine Distributor, a small auto parts distributorship in the Napa area and they also began their family.

With daughter Tara Dawn and son Paul Jobe (known always as “PJ”), the Racines moved to the Holiday Cove neighborhood in Lakeport and built the family home, a geodesic dome structure that was unique to Lake County at the time. It was situated at the entrance to Holiday Cove on a commercial piece of property.

The Racines were avid boaters and water sports enthusiasts.

Racine was a born entrepreneur. He had a keen eye for design and mechanical concepts, and these talents revealed themselves in the many businesses that he founded and operated over the years.

In the late 1970s, he bought and operated “Alga Baby Boat Bottom Cleaner.” It essentially was a drive-through boat wash that had an underwater array of brushes that would clean algae and other debris from boat hulls.

At the same time he cleaned local chimneys and stove pipes under the name “Sweeperman and Ashley.” Ashley was the vacuum system that he employed to keep chimney residue from damaging floors and carpets.

Racine’s signature achievement was “The Dock Factory.” He designed and built floating docks, swim platforms and other water-borne structures starting at his home in 1981. Racine’s docks can be found on many lakes throughout California.

Racine’s company manufactured the docks that today grace the shoreline at Lakeport’s Library Park. It is now located at the Soda Bay Road facility.

Racine’s son, PJ, purchased the business in 2016 to carry on the family tradition.

Racine’s latest contribution to the county’s recreation attractions was the building of a slot car track on Soda Bay Road. “Fun Time Slot Car Raceway” was a place where slot car enthusiasts could bring their cars to compete or rent cars by the hour.

In addition to his business achievements, Racine was a founding member of the Konocti Youth Soccer League, which thousands of the county's youth have been a part of growing up, and the Clear Lake Rimlander’s Association. That organization worked to promote the health and access to the lake for business and recreation purposes and many other things.

He was also a life-long Porsche fan and collector and could frequently be seen about town in one of his many classic Porsches.

Racine is survived by his wife of 52 years, Olga; daughter Tara (husband Raoul, children Jasmine, Kaia, Luna and Malia); and son PJ (wife Sausha, children Addison and Riley).