Door County Eye Associates

Door County Eye Associates Located on 3rd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay. Exceptional eye care and eyewear for every generation.

At Door County Eye Associates, you will find a caring team of professionals dedicated to providing the highest quality, personalized eye care for the whole family. We value our patient relationships and strive to improve your quality of life and vision wellness through our state-of-the-art technology and services. Doctors Eric Paulsen and Annika Paulsen are a father-daughter optometry team and work closely with their staff of eye care professionals to serve patients.

Today and every day, we send our gratitude to all who have served our country. Happy Veterans Day 🇺🇸
11/11/2025

Today and every day, we send our gratitude to all who have served our country. Happy Veterans Day 🇺🇸

🎉 We celebrated Dr. Eric’s retirement last Wednesday with delicious charcuterie from Dal Santos, indulgent chocolate cak...
11/05/2025

🎉 We celebrated Dr. Eric’s retirement last Wednesday with delicious charcuterie from Dal Santos, indulgent chocolate cake and some festive drinks!

We will miss seeing him in the office on a regular basis but he may surprise you as a fill-in from time to time.

Thank you for your many years of exceptional eyecare services to our patients! ♥️

Happy Halloween! 👻For one day only, the ghosts and ghostbusters are working together to take care of your eyes! 🎃
10/31/2025

Happy Halloween! 👻
For one day only, the ghosts and ghostbusters are working together to take care of your eyes! 🎃

10/31/2025

Get to know Dr. Lauren and Dr. Sai - Halloween 🎃 edition!
Schedule your annual eye exam online at www.dcea.com or by calling 920-743-2020 🤓

We are ready for trick or treating on 3rd Ave! Thrills and Chills from 10-12pm today 👻
10/25/2025

We are ready for trick or treating on 3rd Ave! Thrills and Chills from 10-12pm today 👻

10/23/2025

Get to know Dr. Lauren and Dr. Sai! We are feeling so lucky to have their expertise and friendly smiles in the office.😊

Both doctors have same week availability for appointments. You can schedule online at www.dcea.com or by calling 920-743-2020.

Dr. Sai, Dr. Lauren and Patrice are at the Sturgeon Bay YMCA this morning for the Community Healthy Living Fair. Swing b...
10/21/2025

Dr. Sai, Dr. Lauren and Patrice are at the Sturgeon Bay YMCA this morning for the Community Healthy Living Fair. Swing by their booth to say hello and grab some freebies! 🤓

A note from Dr. Eric Paulsen: After 43 years of providing eye care to the fine citizens of Door County I am writing to l...
10/10/2025

A note from Dr. Eric Paulsen:
After 43 years of providing eye care to the fine citizens of Door County I am writing to let you know that I will be retiring at the end of the year. I have been so lucky to have a wonderful career thanks to the great patients that live here. It has been really fun to meet new people every day and watch their families grow (I know 4 generations of some families!). Optometry has changed a lot over 43 years and it has been very exciting to be a part of it. Some of you know that I love new technology and we've been able to provide our patients with the most up-to-date testing available (I really liked new technology because it made me look a lot smarter!).

It's been a thrill to see the practice thrive and grow and I know that with Dr. Annika Paulsen, Dr. Sai Oak and Dr. Lauren Lodholz your eye care needs will continue to be serviced with excellent care! You might see me around the office from time to time as I might be filling in for a sick doctor but I won't be taking any appointments on a regular schedule. I will miss seeing you all for your yearly exams. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to help in a little way in making your quality of life better. It has been my honor and my pleasure to be your eye doctor.

Sincerely,

J. Eric Paulsen, O.D.



A NOTE ABOUT DR. ERIC’S SCHEDULE: Dr. Eric will be going on medical leave on 11/04/25 for knee surgery. His last day seeing patients will be Monday 11/03/25. If you have a scheduled appointment with Dr. Eric after that day, you will be receiving a call to reschedule with Dr. Sai or Dr. Lauren. Dr. Eric is completely booked and does not have any availability before his last day. Dr. Annika is not taking new patients at this time.



A note from Dr. Annika:

Many people know that I did not always want to be an optometrist. I initially pursued a career in sustainable international development but quickly realized that I didn’t have the patience to wait decades to see the results. I decided to move back to the United States and was unsure of what to do next. In a moment of clarity, the idea to follow in my dad’s footsteps and become an optometrist suddenly seemed so obvious. My dad had the opportunity to improve his patients' lives every day and I wanted to do the same.

Growing up with Eric Paulsen as a father was truly such a gift. He was an incredible “girl dad” - willing to take me shopping for prom dresses, helping me proofread many essays, and my favorite advice-giver regarding all things friends and life.

Seeing a parent who is passionate and fulfilled in their career is also a blessing. My dad has loved taking care of patients' eyes for almost 44 years! His patients have loved him back. Over the years, he invested so much into Door County Eye Associates in the interest of best serving his patients. He didn’t want his patients to receive suboptimal care just because they were “at the end of the road” in rural Wisconsin. He was always on the cutting edge of eyecare - investing in technology, learning new skills and treatments. He often went above and beyond for his patients - coming in after hours, finding and referring them to specialists in far off places, swinging by patient’s homes to check-in on them.

My dad has had a distinguished career that he won’t brag about so I will. He served the Wisconsin Optometric Association in many leadership roles including President of the WOA. He has advocated for patients on a state and national level on many occasions. He received Wisconsin Optometrist of the Year in 2009. He has also served on “more than I can remember" VOSH eye mission trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. I was lucky to go on three of those trips with him. He has served the Door County community in many capacities - holding board and other leadership positions for the United Way, noon Rotary, Door County Medical Center, Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club, City of Sturgeon Bay committees, Hope Church and more. This past summer I was so proud of him for receiving Philanthropist of the Year from the Door County Community Foundation.

My dad has been an incredible mentor to me and has set the bar very high for patient care. I am so lucky I got to witness his skills as his child, then his associate and now his boss (haha dad). I will miss seeing him at work.

Dad - Congratulations on your retirement! I am so proud of you!

Annika Paulsen

🎉 We welcomed Dr. Lauren Lodholz to the DCEA optometry team this week! 🎉Dr. Lauren recently moved to the area from Kentu...
09/25/2025

🎉 We welcomed Dr. Lauren Lodholz to the DCEA optometry team this week! 🎉

Dr. Lauren recently moved to the area from Kentucky to be closer to family. She is a board-certified optometrist specializing in specialty/custom contact lenses, ocular disease, peri-operative patient management as well as post-surgical laser treatments.

We are so happy to add her expertise to the office. Her appointment availability starts in October. You can book your annual exam at www.dcea.com or by calling 920-743-2020.

We want to congratulate two DCEA team members on exciting life updates! 1. We’re so proud of Keanna who was named a Nati...
09/16/2025

We want to congratulate two DCEA team members on exciting life updates!

1. We’re so proud of Keanna who was named a National Champion at the Arabian Sport Horse Nationals in Ohio last week! Way to go! 🥇

2. Huge congratulations to Dr. Sai Oak who got married in a beautiful ceremony in Michigan over the weekend. 🎉

Like mother, like daughter! We hope Marilyn and Laura enjoy their European adventure wearing their new Maui Jim sunglass...
09/10/2025

Like mother, like daughter!
We hope Marilyn and Laura enjoy their European adventure wearing their new Maui Jim sunglasses! 😎

Congrats to Mary who was one of our raffle winners on trunk show day! 🎉 She won our basket of Italian delights from Simo...
08/07/2025

Congrats to Mary who was one of our raffle winners on trunk show day! 🎉 She won our basket of Italian delights from Simon’s Specialty Cheese store courtesy of Cherry Optical Lab.

Address

165 N 3rd Avenue
Sturgeon Bay, WI
54235

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 12pm

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Our Story

At Door County Eye Associates, you will find a caring team of professionals dedicated to providing the highest quality, personalized eye care for the whole family. We value our patient relationships and strive to improve your quality of life and vision wellness through our state-of-the-art technology and services. Dr. Eric Paulsen, Dr. Annika Paulsen and their staff are a close working team dedicated to serving their patients. Dr. J. Eric Paulsen was born and raised in Door County, and graduated from Sturgeon Bay High School in 1974. He graduated from Carroll College with a degree in Chemistry in 1978. Dr. Paulsen received his Doctor of Optometry degree from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1982. After graduation, Dr. Paulsen joined Dr. C.L. Pfarr and purchased Dr. Pfarr's practice in 1984. Dr. Paulsen's professional interests include treatment and management of eye disease, emergency eyecare for injuries and infections. Specialty contact lens fitting and cataract and LASIK comanagement. Dr. Paulsen has participated in numerous eye missions all around the world and particularly finds this type of eyecare to be enjoyable and meaningful. He is a Past President of the Northeast Wisconsin Optometric Society, a member of the Wisconsin Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association. Doctor Paulsen was honored to be presented with the Wisconsin Optometrist of the Year Award for 2009.

Dr. Annika Paulsen was born and raised in Sturgeon Bay. She attended Knox College where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and Economics. Dr. Paulsen received her Doctor of Optometry degree from the Illinois College of Optometry. She has worked intermittently with her father at Door County Eye Associates since the age of 12 and finally joined him as an associate optometrist in 2019.

Dr. Paulsen’s professional interests include pediatric and binocular vision, managing eye disease and contact lenses. Dr. Paulsen loves spending time with Special Olympics athletes and has had the honor of serving the athletes at vision screenings in Chicago and Wisconsin. She has also traveled with her father on several eye missions to Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Paulsen lives with her husband, Bobby, their golden doodle, Mika. She enjoys cooking new recipes, spending time outdoors with her husband and dogs, international travel, and cross country skiing.