Paula Martha Edson

Pauline (Paula) Stepanow Hong was born in Riga, Latvia, on January 15, 1925, to Alexander and Berta Stepanow. She attended St Petri's Lutheran Cathedral as well as the church school. Paula was an athlete all her life, starting in school in Riga, where she excelled in Track and Field and swimming. She was proud of her relay team awards and having her picture in the paper in Riga. The family fled into Poland at the start of WWII. While working at a Post Office in Poland (and attending school) she was on the softball and rowing teams. As she was caring for her parents and working, the family again fled into Germany to be with her sister and family.

Paula met Harold Hong while he was serving at Camp King near Oberursel, Germany. She was working for General Roderick Allen. Paula and Harold were married in the garden of the Lutheran Church in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on July 28, 1948. They arrived in the United States in the winter of 1948 and settled in Barron. Paula and Harold purchased a dairy farm in Maple Grove township in 1954. She was a farm wife through and through. She enjoyed driving tractor, feeding and caring for calves, tending a massive garden, canning, freezing, making jams and jellies, and even growing root vegetables in the root cellar all winter.

She remained an athlete for most of her life and was an avid and skilled swimmer. (Woe to anyone who swam in her lane at the BACC!)

Since 1949, Paula was a member of First Lutheran Church in Barron where she sang in the choir for many years. She was a member of the Barron Federated Music Club since 1968, and commented often that she enjoyed many years of fine music and friendships in the BFMC. Her family life was filled with music (both in the United States and Europe) and she insisted that her daughters learn to play the piano. They still do, with a combined dedication of over 80 years of church organ, choral, and piano performance. She was a member of Wisconsin Farmers Union where the family received the Builders Award. She loved poetry, including works by Goethe and Schiller, as well as classical orchestral and organ music. A real joy was dancing (especially to music from the Big Band era) and she danced away into her 80s.

Harold passed in 1986. Paula married Virgil Edson in February of 1993. They enjoyed good years together traveling and visiting family and friends. Virgil passed in 2014. Paula was preceded in death by her immediate family: mother, Berta; father, Alexander; brother, Oskar (wife Zilma, and baby); sister, Hertha and husband, Arthur Wachstein, along with their 4 children.

Paula continued to live on the farm in the home Harold built for her in 1981 until her passing.

She is survived by daughter, Heidi Hong and husband Peter Olson, daughter, Rita Hong and husband, Lee Johnson, and granddaughter, Haley Hong Johnson and her husband, Zachary Loy, along with many nieces and a nephew. Paula is also survived by the Edson children: Charles (Chuck) and Paula Edson and their children, Lindsey and Eric; and Mark and Diane Edson and their children, Carly and Erin. Paula leaves many friends here and abroad.

At 100 years of age, after surviving a World War, being a refugee (3 times), immigrating to America (where she became a citizen in 1951), learning 5 languages, caring for her parents, learning new customs, and being loved by the Hong family, Heidi and Rita can say her life was an extraordinary mark of survival, love, and faith.

Paula was a masterful gardener growing roses, flowers, and vegetables. She was a 4-H leader in gardening for many years. Because she enjoyed flowers all her life, the family asks that in lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to: Barron Federated Music Club; First Lutheran Church, Barron; and Grace Episcopal Church, Rice Lake.

Visitation will be Friday, November 14, from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m. at the Rausch and Steel Funeral Home in Barron and from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service at the church on Saturday morning. A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Rice Lake on Saturday, November 15 at 9:30 a.m. conducted by Rev. Dr. Nozipho Dlodlo.

Burial will be at Wayside Cemetery at a later date.

Honorary pallbearers are: Brenda Hong Christenson, Peter Olson, Lee Johnson, Jim Hong, and Zachary Loy.

Arrangements are being handled by Rausch and Steel Funeral Home in Barron. Online condolences can be made at www.rauschandsteelfuneralhome.com