Tony Karsnia - Deceased - 1971-2020
September 12, 1971 - November 2, 2020
Gene Rafferty and I decided to take in the weekly cruise this evening in St. Francis, MN. Having been rained out several times this summer, the cruise is very well attended on nice - and hot - summer evenings like this one.
Gene showed up with his 1976 Cadillac limousine and I brought my '67 M-M Paramount. Joining us was Paul Holmberg, who arrived in a silver 1992 S&S Cadillac 5000, a nice 2-owner coach from the Dakotas.
As most of you know, the Paramount is a recent barn-find out of Iowa. I have had success in tracing the history of this car back to the second owner. The original owner remained a mystery...until I called Paul Holmberg and asked him to look at the car. Paul began selling Miller-Meteor vehicles for Miller-Meteor Sales of Minneapolis in 1967, with his first new-car sale being a light blue Cadillac limousine-style combination to the Lynner Funeral Home in Clarkfield, MN. With a memory like that - I figured - he'd sure remember a Sierra Gold Paramount combination, right?
RIGHT-O! Not only was Paul certain who the original owner of my Paramount was, he was certain that he sold it to the third owner, Johnston Funeral Home in Conrad, Iowa in 1972, which is where the car last saw active service until the fall of 1987. He reaffirmed that another salesman from M-M Sales of Mpls. had sold the car to it's second owner, which we knew based on paperwork I have located.
If you have questions about a certain car and still know dealers from "back in the day," now is the time to ask the questions. I now have the complete history on my Paramount...and it has been out of hibernation for less than four months!
Seen here in the photos:
Tony Karsnia & Paul Holmberg
Gene & Tony's cars at tonight's cruise in St. Francis, MN
Paul and Gene talking cars
A nice 1992 S&S Cadillac 5000 hearse (for sale)
Gene showed up with his 1976 Cadillac limousine and I brought my '67 M-M Paramount. Joining us was Paul Holmberg, who arrived in a silver 1992 S&S Cadillac 5000, a nice 2-owner coach from the Dakotas.
As most of you know, the Paramount is a recent barn-find out of Iowa. I have had success in tracing the history of this car back to the second owner. The original owner remained a mystery...until I called Paul Holmberg and asked him to look at the car. Paul began selling Miller-Meteor vehicles for Miller-Meteor Sales of Minneapolis in 1967, with his first new-car sale being a light blue Cadillac limousine-style combination to the Lynner Funeral Home in Clarkfield, MN. With a memory like that - I figured - he'd sure remember a Sierra Gold Paramount combination, right?
RIGHT-O! Not only was Paul certain who the original owner of my Paramount was, he was certain that he sold it to the third owner, Johnston Funeral Home in Conrad, Iowa in 1972, which is where the car last saw active service until the fall of 1987. He reaffirmed that another salesman from M-M Sales of Mpls. had sold the car to it's second owner, which we knew based on paperwork I have located.
If you have questions about a certain car and still know dealers from "back in the day," now is the time to ask the questions. I now have the complete history on my Paramount...and it has been out of hibernation for less than four months!
Seen here in the photos:
Tony Karsnia & Paul Holmberg
Gene & Tony's cars at tonight's cruise in St. Francis, MN
Paul and Gene talking cars
A nice 1992 S&S Cadillac 5000 hearse (for sale)
