Alvana M. Paulsen

          Alvana M. Paulsen, 97, of Palmer died Monday, November 14, 2016 at Brookefield Park in St. Paul.     

          Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Palmer.  Reverend Martin Leeper will officiate.  Interment will be in Rose Hill Cemetery in Palmer.

          Visitation will be on Wednesday, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the church in Palmer.

          Memorials are suggested to the Palmer United Methodist Church, Rose Hill Cemetery or the donor’s choice.

          Greenway Funeral Home in Palmer is in charge of arrangements.

          Mrs. Paulsen was born December 16, 1918 in Palmer to Frank and Ruth (Gammon) Helser.

          Alvana grew up in Palmer and attended Palmer Schools where she graduated in 1937.  Alvana worked for the George Dinsdale family in Palmer and for the Palmer School Superintendent as a nanny and doing housework.  She also worked at the Coolidge Hospital in Palmer doing cleaning.

          She was united in marriage to Burton Paulsen on December 1, 1939 in Grand Island.

          The couple lived in Hastings until 1942 when they moved to a farm north of Palmer.  They continued to lived there until 2013 when they moved to Brookefield Park in St. Paul.

          The couple enjoyed traveling.  They visited all 50 states, driving to all the lower 48 states.  She loved playing cards, dancing, gardening, fishing and going to casinos.

For many years on Tuesdays and Saturdays the family got together to play cards and eat pizza.  Burt and Alvana attended many dances at the Platt-Duetsche in Grand Island.

She was a member of the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women in Palmer and the Platt-Duetsche in Grand Island.

Survivors include five sons and daughters-in-law, James and Deniece Paulsen of Central City; Robert and Jette Paulsen of Port Orchard, WA, Alan and Melodee Paulsen of Grand Island, Larry and Diane Paulsen of Palmer and Jack and Cindy Paulsen of St. Paul; 15 grandchildren and their spouses, Todd and Jill Paulsen, Debbie and Jay Meyer, Eric and Julie Paulsen, Chris Paulsen, John and Megan Paulsen, Kiley and Joseph Palensky, Andrew Paulsen, Ryan and Erin Paulsen, Shane Paulsen, Jared and Heather Paulsen, Courtney Sullivan, Heather and Loren Pearson, C.J. Scarborough and Jessica Jacobsen, Missy and Mike Nelson, and Liz and Nick Busch; 41 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great grandchild; a brother and sister-in-law, Dean and Helen Helser of Huntsville, Alabama; two sisters-in-law, Ellen Paulsen  and Irene Pelican of Grand Island; and nieces and nephews.

          She is preceded in death by her parents; husband Burt who died on November 14, 2015; a sister and brother-in-law, Lola and Eldon (Brick) Smith; a sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Irma and Jim Pitcher; two brothers-in-law, Stanley Pelican and Ray Paulsen and a grandson-in-law, Dave Sullivan.

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