Heart Recipient

Paul Oldam

At the age of 58, Paul Oldam embraces life with the energy of a teenager. "After all," he says, "my heart will celebrate its 20th birthday soon." Paul received a heart transplant on October 1, 1993, after spending four months in intensive care suffering from cardiomyopathy. He had suffered two heart attacks and two bypass surgeries before his transplant.

Paul serves as an example to others that one can live a full and active life after receiving an organ transplant. His best advice to patients is, "Be patient and pray a lot." He's an avid sportsman who golfs 120 rounds a year, kayaks, cross-country skis and bikes six miles a day. He also volunteers a great deal of time with the Greater Milwaukee Open, a PGA tour stop.

Paul and his wife Peggy have three daughters and six grandchildren. The newest "addition" to his family is a blue Volkswagen Beetle.

As a proud Hoya who graduated from Georgetown with a degree in economics, Paul currently is a financial executive and vice president of Lauber & Co, Inc. Before this position, he was treasurer of a Fortune 500 company and executive director of one of the largest law firms in the country.

Leadership has always been one of Paul's many fine qualities. As a Strategic Air Command pilot in the United States Air Force, he flew all over North America and much of the Atlantic Ocean. Now when he flies, he prefers flying with Midwest Express Airlines because he just loves their chocolate chip cookies.

As he describes it, being a patient advocate is his way of "giving back" for the ultimate gift of a second chance. After serving on the UNOS Patient Affairs Committee, he has also served as a member of the UNOS Finance Committee, the Special Development Advisory Group and the UNOS Region 7 Thoracic Review Committee. In addition to serving on UNOS committees, Paul is a member of the Finance Committee for Aurora Health Care which owns the transplant center where he was transplanted, and he is on the advisory board for the Wisconsin Donor Network, an OPO.