July 26, 2019 at 5:15 p.m.
Bernice Mae Paulson
Bernice Mae Paulson
Bernice was born at her parents´ home in the Town of Piehl at 11 a.m. on March 27, 1922. Dr. C.A.Richards was the attending physician; he came by train from Rhinelander and was met at Starks or Gagen by sleigh or wagon. Mae was the name of the neighbor midwife who helped at the time of babies in the area.
Bernice spent her elementary school years at the Gagen school and graduated from Rhinelander High School in 1940. She received her teaching certificate from the Oneida County Normal School in 1942. In 1967 she obtained her undergraduate teaching degree from the Wisconsin State University - Stevens Point. She taught elementary grades for 30 years: at the Pelican Lake School, 1942-44; the Pigeon River School in Sheboygan County, 1944-46; Eagle River, 1946-48; Tomahawk, 1948; and the Pine Lake School, 1953-54. She taught in the Rhinelander School District for 22 years between 1965 and 1987, mostly at the McCord and Pelican schools.
On Dec. 27, 1947, she married Irving Nels Paulson, the son of Albert Paulson (1885-1959) and Sarah Jane Whipple Paulson (1878-1926), at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church.
They raised three children, Michael, Joan, and Sarah. Irving died on January 18,1978.
Following retirement in 1987, Bernice remained active in the community, including volunteering at St. Mary's Hospital and the one-room schoolhouse on the grounds of the Logging Museum. As a member of St. Augustine's Episcopal Church since her teens, she especially enjoyed her times volunteering at the Church for Friday doughnut frying, bake sales, Christmas bazaars, meals for the community, and vestry committees. Rosemaling, craft painting, knitting, sewing, crocheting, embroidery, gardening, and genealogy were among her many skills, crafts, and interests.
Bernice was always busy, either with one of her crafts or one of the many organizations she belonged to, including the Northside Homemakers, Northern Wisconsin Decorative Artists, Wisconsin Education Association, National Education Association, Rhinelander Area Retired Teachers Association, and Delta Kappa Gamma.
She is survived by her three children, Michael (Teresa "Tess" Burkart) of Shorewood, Joan of St. Paul, Minn., and Sarah (Charles) Dery of Green Bay; two grandchildren, Kate (Charles "Doug" Lovejoy III) Burkart-Paulson of Madison, and Amy Burkart-Paulson of Shorewood; three great-grandchildren, Hannah, Cora, and Samuel Lovejoy-Paulson, and Sarah's stepdaughter, Briana Dery Meadors, and her children, Austin, Jakob, and Haelley. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, three brothers, William Halbert, Henry Thomas, and Robert Lynn Hollsted, and four sisters, Frances Elaine Hollsted, Helen Elizabeth Uhl Hill, Alice Vivian Zwemer, and Grace Olive Cox.
Funeral services for Bernice will be held on Monday, July 29, 2019 at 11 a.m., with visitation from 10 to 11 a.m., all at the St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Rhinelander. Mother Meredyth Albright will officiate. Interment will follow in the Forest Home Cemetery. You may leave your private condolences for Bernice's family at www.carlsonfh.com.
The family would like to send a special thank you to her caregivers throughout the years at Cottonwood Manor, especially Kris, Melissa, and Kristen, and Erin at Southern Care Hospice. The Carlson Funeral Home (715-369-1414) is serving the Paulson family.
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