Paul Drasek

Willwerscheid Funeral Home & Cremation Service - Grand Avenue

Altogether<br/>4307 Vineland Road, Suite H-17-19, Orlando, FL 32811<br/>For more information, visit our website at <a href='www.altogetherfuneral.com'>www.altogetherfuneral.com</a><br/>Copyright © 2025 FPG Intermediate Holdco, LLC

It is with broken hearts that we share that Paul Von Drasek unexpectedly died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on Sunday May 16. A linchpin and a beloved member of the Twin Cities literary community, Paul, 71, was a fierce advocate for writers and readers of all ages. Paul, the oldest of four boys, was born January 4, 1950 in Mankato, MN to a family practice doctor, Joseph (Doc), and a registered nurse, Lois (Lowee) Von Drasek. He graduated from Mankato High and received a Bachelors at the University of MN in Humanities and a Master's in Education at Minnesota State University/Mankato State. And while he never worked in a classroom, Paul was a natural teacher in many ways, sharing his interests with us and mentoring young publishing professionals. He would point to his assistants and say that they'd be his boss someday. Paul's first job in books was at the renowned Strand bookstore in New York City where he immersed himself in music, poetry, and a diversity of writers. After some time in the city, he returned to Minnesota to work at B. Dalton Books (store number one in Edina!) and proudly opened the store in Alexandria. From there, he went to work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee bookstore. While in Milwaukee, he served on the board of WUWM public radio and Woodland Pattern Book Center where he fell in love with independent book presses and poetry. He then was recruited to work as a sales rep with Viking/Penguin in Rochester NY where he became part of the independent bookstore and sales rep community. When he was transferred to the DC area, his territory ranged north to NJ, west to Pittsburgh and south to Virginia. It was on a sales call in Philadelphia that he met the love of his life, Lisa, who, in the words of Ann Patchett, was "the girl behind the register." They married two years later. At the wedding, his brother's wife (not really joking), remarked "all the Von Draseks bring their wives back to Minnesota." Lisa and Paul spent most of their married life in New York City where he worked at a number of publishing houses. Paul was known for his droll sense of humor. He would joke, "just one more merger and I can retire." In New York, Paul also taught publishing at Columbia University School of Journalism and served as president of the board of directors for Curbstone Press, one of the leading literary presses in the country. Capstone Press, a Mankato, Minnesota children's publisher, recruited Paul to be their inaugural trade sales director. And in 2012, when Lisa got a job as curator of the University of MN's Kerlan Collection they moved to Saint Paul from Brooklyn, NY. So it was true: all Von Draseks do return to Minnesota! When Paul retired in 2015, Capstone's Ashley Andersen Zantop said, "Paul is the genuine article. He has a deep love for books, their creators, their supporters, and the people who curate and sell them. His dedication to the ideal of connecting the right book with the right reader shows in every relationship he's nurtured in the industry." Hearing the news of Paul's death, Leonard S. Marcus, who curated a show at the University of MN in 2019, wrote "I have always thought of Paul as one of the truly good people of this world–kind and caring and generous, and focused on the things that matter. I paid close attention when I was around Paul because I felt he was ahead of most people in the things that interested him and the things he cared about, and that everything he thought and said and did came from a deeply human place. It seems to me that he was a kind of artist at being himself and that he enjoyed so much about life." Retirement offered Paul the opportunity to engage with nonprofits centered around books and literacy. With 826 MSP, he spent three years embedded in Twin Cities schools facilitating young people's writing and helping them transform their first drafts into published books. His latest position at Rain Taxi was chair of the board of directors. He took full advantage of his final sojourn in Minnesota going to live music performances, plays, and literary readings. His favorite thing to do was listen to writers and poets share their work. Some people believe Christmas is the best day of the year; for Paul, it was the Twin Cities Book Festival. Paul was a kind, sweet, smart man. As the young writers of 826 MSP said, "Paul was a gentleman and a gentle man." Paul is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Joseph and Lois Von Drasek, his stepmother Laverne Von Drasek and his brother David Von Drasek. He is mourned by his wife Lisa, brothers Frederick and Joseph (Marty), cousins Nelle (Jerry) Moriarty, Kay, Megan, and Jeremiah Moriarty, Mark (Joyce) Peavey, nieces and nephews Nicholas, Lydia, Elizabeth, and Jacob, step siblings Barb (Kenneth) Neihart and David (Gloria) Olsen, and friends too numerous to count. A celebration of life will take place Sunday, May 23 at 11:00 am at Willwerscheid Funeral Home, 1167 Grand Ave., Saint Paul, 651-228-1006. Family and friends are invited to arrive any time after 10:00 am to be together. A Zoom memorial is being planned for later in the summer. In lieu of flowers, people can remember Paul by supporting organizations that he cared so deeply about: 826 MSP, Rain Taxi, and the Kerlan Collection Endowed Chair Fund at the University of Minnesota. 

A celebration of life will take place Sunday, May 23 at 11:00 am at Willwerscheid Funeral Home, 1167 Grand Ave., Saint Paul, 651-228-1006. Family and friends are invited to arrive any time after 10:00 am to be together. A Zoom memorial is being planned for later in the summer. In lieu of flowers, people can remember Paul by supporting organizations that he cared so deeply about: 826 MSP, Rain Taxi, and the Kerlan Collection Endowed Chair Fund at the University of Minnesota.

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and will purchase more in the future.!"

Hearing Tears

"Beautiful flowers, I've always enjoyed sending them to my love ones for sympathy and they have always love them very much Thanks for making people feel good when receiving them."

Sympathy

"This was true to the photo and good to know family took arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement.  Perfect size for service.

Some of the great things our customers say about us

We're here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the services & home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Baskets

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Condolence Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalized Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed using durable, weather-resistant aluminum designed for indoors and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honor the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more with customizable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life’s story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime without any hidden costs or subscription traps

One time payment

Keeper is SOC2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We bring your QR Codes to any corner of the globe

Worldwide Shipping

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honor their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re built to withstand outdoor elements and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

CANADA

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Baskets & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keepers Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our Partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Through your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. When the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member that created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other Settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all images and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is a part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually

Delete Users from Brands?

Users Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Flagged Content is turned OFF, content that has been flagged will remain public until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

If Flagged Content is turned ON, content that has been flagged will be hidden until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

Hide Flagged Content

Language

Email Notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the Memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete Memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, Memorials will automatically be published.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, Memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests center.

Memorial Request Moderation

Moderation Settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organization.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organization’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.) 

Override Tribute Moderation

If the AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published.  Tributes can however be flagged and removed at any time.

If the AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

AI Content Moderation

When Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, Tributes will automatically be published. Once published, users can flag inappropriate or spam content. You can instantly delete any Tributes published on a Memorial that you administer.

When Tribute Moderation is turned ON, Tributes will only be published if and when you approve them. Tributes can be approved or rejected in the Requests center.

Paul Drasek Obituary | Altogether