Alice Paulus

ALICE L. PAULUS (nee Lang), age 104; beloved wife of the late Clarence; loving mother of Trina of Montclair, NJ, John (wife Gaye) of Seattle, WA, Merici Kramer (husband Fredric) and David (wife Marlene); devoted grandmother of Jay, Michael, Steven and Daniel Paulus, Kathryn Stibrick (Richard), Deborah Kramer and Fredric Kramer, Kim Howman (Brian), Laura Rubadue (James), Nicole, Joseph, Kelly, Patrick, Christine and Matthew Paulus, step-grandmother of Elizabeth Zucker (Michael) and Katherine Steiner (Brant) and great-grandmother of 18; dearest sister of Dolores Lang and the late Edith Roliff, Claude Lang, Dorothy Poole, Paul Lang, Irene May, Walter Lang, MD and Jane Weber; dear aunt and great-aunt of many.

Thank you to her wonderful caregivers at Light of Hearts Villa, Hospice of the Western Reserve and her special caregiver Rebecca Bonsu.

For many years, the Jesuit Retreat House gratefully welcomes a spirited retreat group of women from Gesu Parish in renewing their spirits and reflecting on their lives and faith. Still, the women were not only inspired by the beautiful retreat grounds, but also by a fellow parishioner – Alice Paulus.

At age 98, Alice moved and communicated with the energy and aplomb of someone much less advanced in years. Born in Randolph, a small town near Ravenna, Ohio, Alice moved to the Cleveland area when she married her late husband Clarence. She became a Gesu parishioner in 1930 – a time when, according to Alice, the church was lodged in a temporary location on the campus of John Carroll University. Much has changed since then, yet Alice remains a registered parishioner with Gesu to this day.

Alice has been a great support to the parish, its ministries and its members. For 38 years she worked on the card rack at the parish which raised money for various projects. She also worked on the Council for Human Relations, was chairman of church tours, chaired the liturgical committee , participated in the PATNA Mission and remained part of the parish’s Christian Life Community. She said that being part of parish life and participating in retreats was just part of living her faith. “If you enter it seriously, you always get something spiritually out of it,” she said. Paulus has also been involved in serving others. She credits her fellow parishioners for their hard work and the camaraderie they had while working together. “When you work with volunteers, you work with good people, hardworking people,” she said.

Over the years, Alice kept herself busy with a variety of causes, from liturgical change at Gesu during the aftermath of Vatican II to delivery of food with the Meals on Wheels program, which she did for 20 years (until she was 90) – coordinating deliveries and making deliveries herself when needed. Through it all, it was her presence as much as her actions that made a difference. As she put it, her experience with Meals showed her that “the food was not as important to the people as those who delivered it.” Indeed, she noted, the people to whom she delivered meals would often talk with her, and some would show off their gardens – even as their food started to grow cold.

Another ingredient in Alice’s recipe for a long, happy life is her spiritual exercise. A long-time member of a Christian Life Community prayer group, Alice spent years following a personal prayer path that included daily Mass, frequent retreats, and twenty minutes of meditation per day. While her ability to travel and attend Mass has been somewhat reduced of late, she still meditates every day with the help of a tape-player. She also takes the time to retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House with her Gesu women’s group. She is here every year because retreats “make me alert to possibilities of devotion…make me conscious of making time for it.”

Alice has always been a woman for others. With 4 children, 15 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren – 3 of whom attend Gesu School – Alice “had a lot of birthdays to remember.” She remembered them all, and she also remembered to spend time with God in prayer and on retreat. It seems that time has paid off, and then some, for Alice.

In addition to her activities at church and volunteering, Alice enjoyed gardening, sewing, traveling, collecting fossils and photography. She was very fond of volunteering and spending time with her family – especially at Easter dinner. She will be fondly remembered by many as a cheerful, bright, woman who set a good example for others, never complained and was a wonderful role model.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Alice’s memory to Gesu Church, 2470 Miramar Blvd University Hts, OH 44118 or to Light of Hearts Villa, 283 Union St. Bedford, OH 44146.

Mass of Christian Burial Friday, September 26, 2014 at Gesu Catholic Church at 10:30 AM. Burial will take place on Saturday September 27, 2014 at St Joseph Cemetery Mogadore, OH at 10:30 AM. Family will receive friends to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Alice at THE DeJOHN-FLYNN-MYLOTT FUNERAL HOME OF SOUTH EUCLID, 4600 MAYFIELD RD. (just east of Green Rd.) THURSDAY 4-6 and 7-9 PM.