Gladys Mildred Paulson

Funeral services for Gladys Paulson, will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11 AM at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Milaca. Interment will follow at Forest Hill Cemetery in Milaca. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, MEMORIALS ARE PREFERRED TO THE MILACA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OR MILACA FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY. Gladys was born on December 4, 1915 to John and Ida May Koehn on a farm near Hewitt, MN where she lived with her parents, brothers, Robert and Arnold and sisters, Marie and Lucille. Glady was the fourth of five children, and was baptized, and confirmed in the Lutheran Faith. Glady graduated from the Bertha-Hewitt High School at age 16, and began working to earn her way through nurses training, and enrolled in the RN nurses training program at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, MN. After graduating from nursing school, Glady was employed as a registered nurse by St. Mary's Hospital in Minneapolis, where she met Irene Johnson (Johnnie Keith). They were both recruited by Dr. C.J. Henry to help start and staff a new hospital in Milaca, MN, he was starting in memory of his daughter. Glady worked many years at the Milaca Memorial Hospital, then at the Henry-Keith Clinic. Dr. P.J. Keith eventually opened his own clinic and Glady worked there and at the then new Milaca Area Hospital until her retirement. It was in Milaca that she met, and was married to Leonard Paulson in October 1947 and together they raised their four children; Jan, Steven, Dustin and Nancy in their Milaca home. Glady was very active in church programs, community organizations and philanthropic causes. She and Leonard helped organize the Friends of the Library, which helped plan and raise funds to make Milaca's new library possible. They were also very involved in the building program for the new St. Paul's Lutheran Church, built just west of Milaca. Glady and Leonard were founding members of and donors to the Central Minnesota Initiative Foundation which helped provide new business and employment opportunities for the greater central Minnesota area. Glady and Leonard both enjoyed gardening, travel and spending time with their children and grandchildren. In more recent years, Glady was able to welcome eleven great grandchildren into the family as well. After Leonard's passing in 2003, Glady continued to participate in many of their causes and also especially enjoyed playing cards and socializing with her bridge club friends. Gladys loved her home and continued living there until well into her 98th year. Glady moved briefly to assisted living at Country Meadows until taking a fall, followed by surgery and rehab at Elim. She continued her rehab while living with daughter, Nancy and her husband Scott, in their home near Scandia, MN. During this past year, she also enjoyed many weekend visits to her other children, but her goal was always to re-gain enough strength and stability to return to her own home. Gladys M. Paulson passed away on Thursday November 12, 2015 after a brief stay at the Wedum Residence Hospice in Brooklyn Park, MN - just 3 weeks short of her 100th birthday. Gladys was preceded in death by husband, Leonard, parents, John and Ida May, brother, Robert (LaVerna), sister, Marie (Roy) Bower, nephews, Larry and Dennis, brother, Arnold (Ruth), nephew, Mick and sister Lucille (Marcus) Langley, also by many dear Paulson relatives and wonderful friends from Milaca, and the surrounding communities. She is survived by daughter, Jan Tenold (Paul Epple), sons, Steven (Peg) Paulson, and Dustin (Kris) Paulson, daughter, Nancy (Scott) Walcker, grandchildren, Jennifer (Tom) Fitch, Jessica (Josh) Hinz, Jeff Paulson, Joel (Meghan) Paulson, Brianna Kunzmann, Beth Walcker (Luke Przybylski) and Laura (Matt) Davison, great grandchildren, Nora and Bennett Fitch, Gretta, Maggie, Torsten and Zoe Hinz, Petra Paulson, Lina and Penny Przybylski and Levi and Elise Davison, also many nieces, nephews, and friends. Glady was generous with her church, her family, and her community. We were blessed to have her in our lives and will miss her so much.