Bob Kuelthau doesn’t give up without a fight. In July, the 90-year-old returned to water skiing on Yellow Birch Lake in Eagle River for the first time in two years, after knee surgery, two major heart procedures, and a milestone birthday.
“I was apprehensive, of course,” said Kuelthau, seated at the kitchen table in the summer home he’s known since childhood. “But I did it.”
Kuelthau completed a full loop around the lake, with his daughter driving the boat, his grandkids and wife cheering from the pier, and his son-in-law taking photos. “Every boat was honking,” his son-in-law said. “What a riot!”
Despite the health setbacks — a torn quadriceps tendon in his left knee in 2023, a near-fatal cardiac event that led to a pacemaker in October, and an aortic valve replacement in December — he refuses to slow down.
“I had heart surgery last December and I asked the doctor when I could ski again,” Kuelthau said. “He told me 30 days. So by January, I was snow skiing.”
Kuelthau was always determined. In high school, he taught himself to water ski through trial and error. “I think I had the first pair of water skis on Yellow Birch Lake,” he recalled, noting the sport was just catching on locally.
Soon, he was giving lessons, advertising with posters around town and hand-painted signs along the roadside. He even sold skis made from unfinished blanks supplied by the Thompson Ski Company in Woodruff, which he varnished and fitted with bindings himself.
“Ultimately, we organized a ski show in Eagle River and had shows every weekend at the T- docks,” Kuelthau said. “I just developed my own program and we did crazy ski stuff.”
This was circa the early 1950s, before elaborate water ski shows became a North Woods summer staple.
The performances featured everything from pyramids and jumps to quirky novelty acts. One memorable routine involved a metal bathtub mounted on a surfboard, with a pipe attached to mimic a shower. He even developed a stunt where he skied using a single canoe paddle, something he hadn’t seen anyone else do.
Eventually, locals’ concerns over traffic led to the show’s move to Three Lakes. After that, Kuelthau stepped away, but his passion for the sport remained.
In later years, he taught his son and nephew to water ski; both went on to become state champion slalom skiers.
“My nephew and my son set up slalom courses every day on the lake and practiced day and night, all day long, water skiing,” Kuelthau said. “They went beyond me.”
Kuelthau has no regrets about not becoming a champion skier himself. “It’s been a good life,” he said.
After college, he served in the Navy, attended law school, and only recently retired from his career as a lawyer, though he still advises his former firm.
He stays busy managing two households — the Eagle River home his family has owned for 102 years, where he spends every summer weekend, and his home in Brookfield.
When asked about his secrets for healthy aging, he said he works out at the Y, goes for walks, and does push-ups most days. “Don’t sit in front of the TV every day, all day,” he advised.
“I eat what I shouldn’t eat, I’m sure,” he added. “I like fatty foods, I like desserts, but I’ve kept my weight and my strength up. In fact, my shoulder and upper body are stronger now than ever because I’m working out.”
He also associates with younger people. “My friends are all younger. We have a few friends in their 80s, but I don’t have any friends who are 90.”
Mentally sharp too, Kuelthau carries a lightness about him — not because he hasn’t faced challenges, but because he’s learned to let them roll off his back.
“There are limitations as you get older, but you just have to push yourself, as much as you can. So many people think negatively. I’ve got to think positively.”
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