Senior in the Spotlight, week of April 11: Judy Paulson

My name is Judy Paulson. I was born in Sidney, Nebraska in 1946. My parents were Allen and Rose Marie Karnik. I have one brother, Gary, who is three years older. He lives in Ft. Collins, Colorado. We are very close and talk a few times a week.

My dad was a farmer and later became a Realtor. My mom was a legal secretary. My paternal grandfather was a veterinarian in eastern Nebraska. He specialized in race horse injuries. He retired and relocated to western Nebraska where he bought farms for himself and his two sons (one who was my father). My maternal grandfather was the head of the Federal Land Bank in eastern Nebraska. When my parents were first married they moved to Los Angeles. My dad got a job the first day at Douglas Aircraft. They thought he would have good work ethics, being a farm boy. When the war broke out in 1941, the windows of Douglas Aircraft were all painted black. There was a fear of being bombed. My grandparents requested my parents to return to Nebraska where they thought it was safer. That is when they moved to western Nebraska to a farm north of Potter.

My parents were both of Bohemian descent (Czech) and Catholic. My brother and I were born when we lived on the farm. They wanted us to go to Catholic school and the nearest one was 30 miles away in Sidney, Nebraska. It was too far to drive daily back then, so we boarded with the nuns during the week and went home on the weekends. My brother did this for three years and I did it for one year. We would go home every Friday afternoon and be brought back every Sunday afternoon. I remember crying most Sundays for hours before being taken back to school. I was only 5 at the time and didn’t want to be away from my parents.

We all moved into Sidney when I was going into second grade, so we could live at home and go to school daily. I was much happier then. I went to St. Patrick’s Academy for all 12 years. I still have many lifelong friends that I made there.

I married after graduating from high school and we moved to Lincoln, Nebraska so my husband could go to the University of Nebraska and work. We had two girls in a short time. Trisha lives in Coalinga and is married to a fireman. She is a dental hygienist and works in Fresno, so she drives in a few days a week. She has two girls: Micaela, who works at Firestone and goes to college and Makenzie, who is a manager at Yogurtland. My other daughter, Lori, lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and has two children: Lexi, 17, and Spencer, 14. She is a mortgage loan processor.

My husband is Clayton Paulson. We moved to California from Nebraska in 1984. He was a commercial construction superintendent. He is now retired and keeps busy with lots of building projects. I managed Premier Construction (a Sears dealer) for a few years, and then I got my Realtor’s license. I worked in that industry for a few years and then got a job as scheduler/ construction manager for Wildwood Pools. I worked there for 12 years. I’ve also worked at Vineyard Pools and have pulled pool permits for different pool companies until this day.

I’m basically retired. I like to work out with the exercise class at the Clovis Senior Activity Center. I also enjoy dancing to a live band there every Wednesday and having lunch with my friends. I think it is a great service that they provide to the seniors in Clovis and I am thankful for their services. They have bus tours to different locales, provide tax help, have entertainment and Bingo games and have a large rummage sale in the spring (May 5, 2016) and fall. I enjoy traveling and spending time with my friends, family and grandchildren. I am a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Clovis.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Senior in the Spotlight, week of April 11: Judy Paulson."