Paul C. Winner was born on May 24, 1891 in Whitehall, Wisconsin. After graduating high school, Winner attended Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin and enrolled in the Graduate School of Business at Harvard University in 1916. When the United States entered World War I, Winner enlisted in the Army to be trained as a pilot and spent three months training at the School of Military Aeronautics at Princeton University before being shipped to France in October, 1917.
His first assignment in Europe was being stationed at the Third Aviation Instruction Center in Issoudun, France, serving as part of the construction crew for the new American airbase. While at Issoudun, Winner worked primarily as part of the KP detail and guard duty while he waited for a promotion to 1st lieutenant in order to begin flight training. In February, 1918, he was transferred to another airfield located at Tours to begin training as a pilot, and was still logging training hours when the war ended in November, 1918.
After the war ended, Winner continued to serve in Europe as part of the peacekeeping force. During this time he traveled many cities in France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. He returned to the United States in May, 1919 and was formally discharged at Camp Grant, Illinois on June 5, 1919. After being discharged, Winner returned to Wisconsin and married Jeanne Dennett. The couple had two children, John and Betty Jean. The family settled in Port Washington, where Winner worked as a manager in several private companies around the Milwaukee area.
During the Great Depression, he moved to Madison and began working for the State of Wisconsin's employment service and served as the first director of the National Reemployment Service. He also served as the assistant director of the state employment service until 1943, when he began working for the War Manpower Commission. Winner died from a heart attack in Chicago on January 6, 1945. His son John Winner served in World War II and also has materials donated to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center. The John Winner collection was processed as WVM Mss 1222.
