{"id":4228,"date":"2014-07-22T14:22:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T14:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=4228"},"modified":"2020-02-14T15:54:45","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T15:54:45","slug":"memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2014\/07\/22\/memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"In memoriam: John and Norma Paulson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Paulson
The Atrium-Link, funded in part by the Paulson family, is adorned with\u00a0a Dala horse, a nod to John\u2019s pride in his Swedish heritage. The link is\u00a0named in memory of John\u2019s parents, Rose E. and Johnny E. Paulson, and is\u00a0dedicated by John R. Paulson, Sr., and his children, John Reid Paulson, Mary\u00a0Jo (Paulson) Peterson \u201980, Deborah Stansbury, Laurie (Paulson) Dahl \u201976,\u00a0and Lisa Paulson \u201980.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer, scenes of remembrance and honor unfolded on the beaches of Normandy as World War II veterans and their loved ones marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day\u2014the battle recognized as the largest sea invasion in history. The occasion was reminiscent of commemorations attended years ago by <\/span>John and Norma Paulson<\/strong>,<\/span> caring parents of Augsburg alumni and generous benefactors of Augsburg College. John returned to France several times as a D-Day +1 survivor. Norma joined him as a passionate steward of history. And, together, they formed a couple who\u2014when abroad\u2014could unite people across countries and\u2014when at home in Minnesota\u2014could connect a congregation, campus, or community.<\/span><\/p>\n

John, who passed away June 7, 2012\u201468 years to the day after D-Day +1\u2014and Norma, who passed away March 5, are remembered for their committed involvement in Twin Cities organizations ranging from Rotary to Shriners, and from the Classic Car Club of America to the Purple Heart Association. The Paulsons were successful in their careers\u2014John as a builder and Norma as a banker\u2014and made deeply meaningful philanthropic gifts throughout their lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While neither John nor Norma attended Augsburg, three of John\u2019s children and a son-in-law are alumni of the College\u2014<\/span>Mary <\/span>Jo (Paulson) Peterson \u201980, Laurie (Paulson) Dahl \u201976, David Dahl \u201975,<\/span> and <\/span><\/strong>Lisa Paulson \u201980. <\/strong><\/span>The couple\u2019s lifetime gifts to Augsb<\/span>urg exceed $2 million. In 2001, the Paulson family provided major funding to complete the Atrium-Link that connects Lindell Library via skyway to an atrium between Memorial and Sverdrup halls and, in 2006, they were early donors to the campaign for the Center for Science, Business, and Religion\u2014a capital project John\u2019s daughter Lisa said is fitting given her family\u2019s numerous career ties to the health, science, and business fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Augsburg College President Emeritus William Frame recalls that John and Norma were passionate about their family and friends, their hobbies and interests, and their call to better the world. \u201cThey were a sight from the 1930s\u2014John driving Norma in a Packard touring car up to Augsburg House, stamping down to applause\u2026more of his panache than of his great car,\u201d Frame said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way they \u2018drove up\u2019 to the dedication of the Link\u201d and their gifts to the College.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout their lives, John and Norma connected the past to the present and future. Whether Norma was funding fieldtrips for grade school students from her hometown of Redwood Falls, Minn. to visit the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul or John was contributing to an organ fund that allowed young musicians to practice, the Paulsons ensured future generations could engage with varying aspects of history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Augsburg College Pastor Emeritus David Wold recalls the Paulsons as \u201cpeople of tremendous faith and commitment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much from John in my days at Calvary Lutheran Church and in my years at Augsburg College,\u201d Wold said. \u201cI learned about patriotism\u2026about work ethic, about family, about resiliency through tragedy, about benevolence, and about Packards.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And, Wold says he learned about the Paulsons\u2019 \u201ccommitment to the young and the old and to those in between.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer, scenes of remembrance and honor unfolded on the beaches of Normandy as World War II veterans and their loved ones marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day\u2014the battle recognized as the largest sea invasion in history. The occasion was reminiscent of commemorations attended years ago by John and Norma Paulson, caring parents of Augsburg <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[25,74],"class_list":["post-4228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-memoriam","tag-summer-2014","tag-veterans"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4228"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10149,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4228\/revisions\/10149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}