Dawn Ann Paulsen

On August 14th, Dawn Ermann Paulsen, believer, loving widow, family matriarch, forward-thinking philanthropist, quilting wizard, daytime television aficionado, Queen of Sass and Empress of Sarcasm, passed away peacefully at her home in Racine surrounded by family.

Born in Milwaukee to Margaret and George Ermann, Dawn went to St. Boniface Grade School before attending Milwaukee Messmer. Her high school years were memorable – as Dawn liked to remind people, she was always average grade-wise, but above average in having a good time. A proud member of the Class of 1949, she attended her reunions regularly, all the way up to her 70th in the summer of 2019, a small but festive affair at which Dawn wondered aloud, “Who are all these old people?”

At Messmer, she met Donald Martin Paulsen, a member of the Class of 1947 and a close friend of her brother, Darrell. The pairing was perfect. Don and Dawn. They were engaged on Christmas Day 1952, married October 3rd, 1953, and proceeded to spend the next 65 years at each other’s side. Whether it was building a loving home as they raised Robyn, Randy, Renee, and Richelle, owning (briefly, thank goodness) a mildly accident-prone ice cream shop on the south side of Racine, camping up north, retiring to Hot Springs Village in Arkansas, road tripping to Wisconsin every Christmas, or simply enjoying their pre-dinner Manhattans (extra olives, please), they were partners in every sense of the word.

Dawn lived a selfless life of caring conviction. While encouraging Don to build a notable career at Wisconsin Natural Gas, she devoted herself to building their home into a disciplined, well-structured place for her children to grow and flourish. Later in her life, following Don’s dementia diagnosis, she dedicated her energy to ensuring her husband’s final years were as happy and peaceful as possible. It could be said that much of Dawn’s time in this world was spent caring for those who meant the world to her.

She believed nothing was more important than family, that Christmases were best spent in close confines with loud relatives, and that the most meaningful gifts we can give each other are measured not monetarily, but in their ability to make an impact or create a memory. Case in point – the brief period in the early aughts when Dawn took up pottery and gleefully gifted family members her aesthetically odd creations. Deep down she must have known no one was ever going to forget those bad boys.

Beyond amateur pottery, Dawn was also known for routinely making donations to Heifer International, a global organization committed to feeding the hungry. The gifts were always made in honor of her children and their spouses, her grandchildren, even her great-grandchildren. For decades, Dawn gave her family wisdom and perspective in the form of dairy heifers, goats, flocks of ducks, and honeybees that would help feed and sustain generations of families she would never meet.

Dawn’s final years were spent sharing a home with her oldest daughter, Robyn, the two caring for each other in every way imaginable. There, the door was always open, the welcomes were warm, the conversation was easy, and the Judge Judy reruns were always played at a preposterous volume.

Most notably, Dawn fervently believed in the healing power of laughter, and her humor – even all the way to the end – was expressed with a witty, willful acceptance of everything that was happening. As her life drew to a close, her peace with the process made Dawn’s final days much easier for a family heartbroken about saying goodbye.

Her final hours were spent surrounded by her children and her granddaughter, Erin, one of Dawn’s closest friends, an “angel on earth” who came to ensure her passing was comfortable.

Dawn leaves behind children Robyn O’Brien of Racine, Randy (Nancy) Paulsen of Racine, Renee (Marvin) Christensen, of Alamo, CA, and Richelle (Nathan) Post of LaGrange Park, IL; grandchildren, Brendan (Lisa) O’Brien, Erin (Tim) Bond, Ryan Christensen, and Evan Post; great-grandchildren, Sawyer, Sullivan, and Declan O’Brien, and Evelyn, Kalen, and Kelsey Bond.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated Tuesday, August 27th at St. Paul the Apostle in Racine, 6400 Spring Street. Relatives and friends may meet from 10:00 - 11:00AM, prior to the Mass.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages gifts in Dawn’s honor to Faith Aid Orthopedic Compassion Program, an organization committed to improving orthopedic access to underserved communities in Kenya: www.faithaid.org, or Heifer International www.heifer.org/give

The family wishes to extend a special thank you to Hospice Alliance for their loving and compassionate in-home care during this time.