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Johan H. Paus

  Johan H. Paus, a renowned international business executive with expertise in air and cruise travel, the global distribution of oil and commercial aviation died Sunday, Feb. 10, at age 85, of natural causes, in San Rafael. He was a resident of Sonoma.

  Paus was a man who loved his family as he loved life; he was a veracious reader, a world traveler, a child of World War II in German-occupied Oslo, Norway; he was a learned man.

  With a diploma from Oslo Business College (1948), a master’s in economics from the University of Oslo (1955), an MBA in 1957 from Stanford Graduate School of Business (on a Fulbright Scholarship), he also attended and conducted seminars and conferences in Europe, the United States and the Far East.

  During his illustrious career he held management positions with Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) in New York; Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in Stockholm and Copenhagen; A.P. Moeller Group of Companies in Denmark (incorporating shipping giant Maersk Line, Maersk Air and Maersk Travel); Guinness Peat Aviation in Shannon, Ireland; and the Kosmos/Jahre/Skaugen Group in San Francisco, London and Houston (specifically, Pearl Cruises of Scandinavia and Skaugen Petrotrans, international tanker operator of crude oil and chemical vessels).

  Among other affiliations, he was a representative of the Denmark, Norway and Sweden to the Committee for Tourism and Trade, European Free Trade Area (EFTA) in Geneva.

  Paus is survived by his wife, Katherine, of 31 years; five children; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

  His funeral will be held Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, at 1 p.m., at the Sonoma Valley Community Church, 181 Chase St., Sonoma. Interment will be in Oslo, Norway.

  In lieu of flowers, donations to one’s favorite charity would be appreciated.

Arrangements: Duggan’s Mission Chapel Funeral Home.