Pauline T. Muetzel

Pauline Muetzel, age 77, passed away on Thursday, August 16, 2012 at her home in Fruitland Park, FL after her third and final battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. August 26, 2012 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 1334 Griffin Road, Leesburg, FL. A reception will immediately follow. Burial and an addition memorial service will be held in Davenport, IA at a place and time to be determined. She wished to be cremated and placed beside her husband at the Davenport Memorial Park.

Pauline was born in 1934 in Shanghai, China. Her mother, Lilly Young, was a local woman who died in childbirth when Pauline was only two years old. Her father, Ephram H. Patterson was an American sailor who served in the Asiatic Fleet. He remarried with Rachel Flicker, the daughter of a Russian emigre family and returned with her to the U.S. in 1939. Pauline was left behind to be raised in the Flicker household whose children, Esther, Leonard, and David, have considered Pauline to be their sibling, and she likewise, for all their lives. Ephram Patterson died on active duty in the North Pacific in 1943.

Pauline was raised by Faga Roif Flicker, Esther’s grandmother, until her death. She was sent to a convent in Shanghai where she received her education. In her late teens she had the good fortune to get a job as governess in the household of a diplomat in the British consulate in Macau. In 1955 Pauline immigrated to the U.S. from Macau under her stepmother’s sponsorship and soon got a job at the Navy Exchange in San Diego. She met her first husband there who gave her two sons, John and James.

Pauline married her second husband Robert “Bud” Muetzel in 1961 in Davenport, IA. Bud adopted her two boys and provided them with a home and his name. She and Bud had one more son, Leroy. Becoming a naturalized citizen in 1967, she loved her country and flew the Stars and Stripes at every opportunity. Pauline worked numerous jobs but finally landed a career she loved as a mail handler for the U.S. Postal Service from which she retired. She often worked extra jobs such as home interior sales to invest in their home and the future. In her retirement, she and Bud enjoyed traveling frequently until his death in 1998.

Pauline often spent time in Florida and made her permanent move to Fruitland Park in 2001. She continued to travel and claimed to have sixteen cruises under her sea legs. New places, new friends, and spectacular scenery always excited her. From Angel Falls in Venezuela to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the glaciers of New Zealand and Alaska to the museums of St. Petersburg, Russia, she certainly knew how to make her investment in the future pay off.

Her circle of friends continued to grow with her membership in the Moose and Elks lodges and at the many dances she attended. Pauline’s greatest joy next to being with her sons and grandsons was dancing - especially ballroom dancing. She danced with her husband before foot trouble put him in the spectator’s row. After his passing, she danced her way from Davenport to Ft. Lauderdale to St. Petersburg to Orlando to Daytona Beach to all the dances around home. The sparkle in her eyes and that fantastic smile lit up the dance floor more than any mirror ball could ever do. And she loved to dress the part... she seemed to have the perfect dress or gown for every occasion and was always adding to her collection.

Pauline’s other interests were bead work, tending her flowers, watching old movies, and reading her Bible. As a student in the convent she strongly considered becoming a novitiate. Since those days, her abiding love of Jesus helped her through the bad times and gave her greater joy in the good times. In recent years she has been a member of the Bethany Lutheran Church in Leesburg where she found spiritual comfort and new friendships.

Pauline is survived by her sons John of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, James of Urbandale, Iowa, and Leroy of Orange City, Florida; her three grandsons Michael, Justin, and Ryan; her sister Esther of Seattle, Washington; her brothers Leonard and David of Toronto, Canada; and her dance partner, loving friend, and caregiver for her last twelve years, Leon Baldwin of Fruitland Park, Florida.

She was under the wonderful care of Cornerstone Hospice & Palliative Care (formerly Hospice of Lake and Sumter) who kept her comfortable and attended to her every need in her final days. The Cornerstone staff were invaluable in helping family and friends give Pauline the dignified and peaceful passing she so dearly wanted. Please consider giving a donation in Pauline’s name for the professional and compassionate work they do at http://www.cshospice.org or send a check to:

Cornerstone Hospice Foundation
2445 Lane Park Road
Tavares, FL 32778

Arrangements by Harden/Pauli Funeral Home, Eustis.