Paulson Remembered as 'Champion in Life'

Words like humble, kind, hard-working, and competitive were used to describe Allen Paulson, the late aerospace magnate and multiple Eclipse Award-winning Thoroughbred owner and breeder, who was memorialized in services Tuesday afternoon at the Nativity Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. NBC sportscaster Dick Enberg, a Paulson friend, called the self-made multi-millionaire "a champion in life" who was always a man of few words. "Allen was a champion of brevity," Enberg said. "With all of his success, he didn't applaud himself."

Another friend, former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, spoke of Paulson's love of family, flying, Thoroughbred horses, and his prized poodles. Iacocca remembered the time he was in the market for a private jet manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace, the company Paulson owned. "Allen was such a good salesman, instead of selling  me an airplane, he sold me the company." Chrysler bought Gulfstream and eventually sold it back to Paulson. Speaking of Paulson's love of flying, Iacocca said, "Allen will get to heaven faster than anyone else. He knew where all the checkpoints were."

At a reception later in the afternoon at Del Mar Country Club, military aircraft, Gulfstream jets, and Paulson's private helicopter conducted a series of fly-bys as a final salute, while videotapes showed highlights of his career in racing, capped by the exploits of two-time Horse of the Year Cigar.