Gerry Paulus in the news!

Text by Polly Kolstad and Photography by Jesse Martinez

At the golden age of 102, Geraldine Paulus still has something to give back to life.

“I don’t know why I’m so special. It’s just that all of my life I’ve been involved with people and traveled a lot,” says Geraldine (Gerry) Paulus, a sprightly silver haired lady, quietly engaging conversation.

Born on a homestead out of Collins, Montana, over 100 years ago, Geraldine (Gerry) Paulus  remembers when there was no electricity, no running water, and no telephones.

“I’m from Choteau, born on a homestead out of Collins, 102 plus years ago.”

Paulus lived for a short time in Nebraska. Then, the family came back to Montana when her grandfather passed away and her father took over the farm near Choteau so she and her brother could go to high school. She attended Western Montana College for two years and became a school teacher out of Power.
“I had a large rural school, first grade and all the grades in between,” she explains. Then, she became a fourth grade teacher and at the time if you had a husband, you couldn’t teach.

All young men were being conscripted for the service. Women became “Rosie the Riveters,” so she had to stop teaching for five years. She married Willard, a farmer in July of 1937 when that rule went into effect. In her telling, “I took over the harvest feeding men.”

Read more at this link.