Samantha Pauzé

Samantha Pauzé, of Boulder, Colorado, passed away on October 31, 2019 at the age of 72. She was born September 21, 1947. After her mother took her own life when Sam was 6, she spent most of her childhood in foster care. With the help of several adults in her life, in her early teens she learned that most of her mother’s family had been victims of the Holocaust in Poland. In 1965 Sam went to Vietnam as a Medical Technician with the Red Cross. Her experiences treating the wounded made a deep impression on her.

 

As a college student in Milwaukee in the early 1970s, she attended antiwar prayer services where she met Glenn Pauzé, who was a former seminarian and conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam. They married in 1973. From their time living in St. Louis they came to view their coming together like the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, two mighty, flowing rivers joining as one. Sam was steadfast in her determination to have a family in spite of several bouts of endometrial cancer that she endured as a young woman. Their son Bryan was born in 1977 and daughter Heather in 1979. Sam and Glenn saw daughter Heather through an illness in infancy that left her legally blind, and a serious illness when she was 8 years old. Sam was always a steadying force in the family and strove to provide for her children the loving childhood she had not had herself.  As her children grew up, she was known for widening the family to include her children’s friends in an especially warm and welcoming way. She brought others toward her through her ability to speak directly of serious matters. She was sometimes opinionated, but always respectful of the thoughts of others.

 

Glenn and Sam and the family lived in several places in the country before settling in Boulder in 1995 where they began attending Boulder Friends Meeting. After years of moving, the mountains and Boulder were the places she considered home. Glenn and Sam briefly moved to Washington State in 1999 when Heather started college there but returned to Boulder when they realized Glenn was dying. He passed away in 2000. Sam joined Boulder Meeting in 2001 and twice shared aspects of her life through Spiritual Journey presentations to Boulder Friends. She served on Peace and Social Justice, Program, Fellowship, and Service Committees. To the end she was faithful in her attendance at Meeting.

 

Sam retired after 15 years working for Boulder Community Hospital as a medical insurance coder. Previously she had been a bookkeeper and social worker.

 

Sam loved photography, cooking, and the arts, including musical theater and classical music. She enjoyed photographing Colorado scenery, flowers, and animals. Christmas was one of her favorite times of year, and she thoroughly enjoyed decorating and cooking amazing holiday treats. Later, she found joy and comfort in coloring. She was a favorite among the staff and residents at the retirement community where she lived at the time of her death. The center of her life was always her family. She will be remembered by her children Kelly, Bryan, and Heather, and her six grandchildren, and a large circle of friends.

 

A memorial service for Sam was held November 16, 2019 at Boulder Friends Meeting. We miss her dearly and hold her in our hearts.

 

Respectfully submitted by Fran Boler, Archivist, Boulder Friends Meeting