Funeral services for 95 year old Rose Paulson of Winner were held on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 10:30am at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Winner. Burial was in the Platte City Cemetery.
Rosamond Beulah DeHaan was born July 22, 1924, in Platte, SD, to John and Jessie (DeJong) DeHaan. Rose grew up with four brothers and four sisters in a Montgomery Ward’s house on the ranch five miles south of Platte. The fun little clique of three girls—Ollie, Rose, and Lois—spent a lot of time playing, laughing, working, and riding horses together. She went to school in Platte where the band she played clarinet in won the state music contest at least four years with their high quality rendition of “The William Tell Overture.” The caption under her senior picture in the annual said, “There’s nothing she doesn’t know about horses.”
Rose went to college in Springfield. She could type 110 words a minute on an old manual typewriter—try that if you dare. During World War II she worked as a secretary at the Igloo Military Ordinance Depot. After that she taught country grade school west of Platte in the Paulson vicinity. Clifton Paulson either pursued her or was pursued by her—I don’t know which. Their first date was hunting coyotes on horseback with Cliff’s coyote hounds. They later eloped to Springfield where the wedding party was them and one other couple for witnesses. Three charming boys were born to this young couple, Ron, Dale, and Donn.
Baseball was always a big deal for the Paulson’s. Platte and Bonesteel were big rivals. The Bonesteel amateur coach was Andy Qualm. He told Cliff if he would play for Bonesteel he would rent him his ranch. So they moved West River. Building the Ft. Randall Dam flooded that place, so they moved to the Dwight Martz place eleven miles north of Bonesteel where they built up their cow herd and purchased Babe, a palomino mare family member. Rose barrel raced on her and the boys and many other people learned to ride on her.
In 1955 they bought the Roy Woolhizer ranch 16 miles south of Colome, which Rose owned till she died. There was an old house with no indoor plumbing. Kitchen cupboards were peach crates with curtains for doors. They carried water 80 yards from the well. Baths were every Saturday night and boots had to be polished for church every Sunday. One method of getting skunks out of the walls was to remove the light switch cover plates and pour hot water in the wall with the tea kettle. In 1964 Larry Bauer built the house that is still there with indoor plumbing and a bathroom! Once the house was completed, it was always spotless and you never wore shoes on her carpet.
One handy tool frequently employed in child discipline was a wire handled fly swatter. As was typical of that time, Rose helped with about all the ranch work which included six or eight milk cows, some chickens, a few pigs, some pretty good horses, muscovy ducks, and the cow herd. She mowed a lot of hay with a seven foot mower and almost cut her finger off with the sickle when she raised the mower bar by hand. When the boys got old enough to help on the ranch and in the fields, Rose was a wonderful memory. Every day at 4 o’clock she would show up with a pleasant lunch which usually included chocolate cake. To us hungry boys that was a highly anticipated big deal.
Country school was about three miles away. Phones were party lines. The 1965 tornado was a big deal. Calvary Chapel activities were an important part of their life. Rose and Cliff were youth group leaders for a few years and that included Bible studies as well as a lot of rollerskating and ice skating and snow and fishing parties. Rose was always very concerned and prayed daily for the spiritual condition of each and every family member.
Rose’s life included being a loyal wife, church, ranch work, loyal fan of boys in Wewela baseball, 4-H, school, sports, horse shows, hunting, and fishing. She helped catch and clean and cook lots of fish and frog legs and mountain oysters.
In the 80’s Rose was heavily involved in SD Cattlewomen. She was president in 1983 and 1984 when she actively promoted the Beef Checkoff. She was also president of the Beef Industry Council in 1988 and was awarded Prime Promoter in 1988 and 1992.
Cliff and Rose had a great relationship with a lot of people. One special friendship was with Glen and Darlene Huddle. They traveled thousands of miles together on special trips all over North America.
When Cliff died in 2007, Rose stayed on the ranch and helped Donn and kept the lawn mowed until 2018. She cooked for cattle working and ranch crews until around 2017.
As Rose grew older, she got to stay on the ranch and drive her green Ford pickup largely because of the incredible help she received from Deanna Kartak. Deanna spent countless hours and miles helping Rose do all of life and maintain her independence and making sure all the food in the house had not reached the expiration date.
In 2018 she agreeably moved to Elder Inn and became a regular at Shirley’s Diner where she had her omelet and decaf and always wanted to pay.
Her 95th birthday was July 22, 2019 and her party included her famous horseback ride. She won her age division in Western Pleasure.
Rose passed away on Sept. 19, 2019 at Avera Rosebud Country Care Center in Gregory.
Rose was preceded in death by her husband Cliff, her parents, two great grandsons Kaden Paulson and Landon Martin, brother Lawrence & wife Nathel DeHaan, sister Nellie & husband Pete Ludens, sister Lois & husband Ray Morken, brother Kenny DeHaan, sister-in-law Ruth DeHaan, brother Andy & wife Alice DeHaan, sister Leigh Ann & husband Ernie Luken, and brother-in-law Bob Anderson.
She is survived by her three sons:
Ron & Linda Paulson of Fairfax, SD, their three children:
Misty & Jeff Thompson & five children of Omaha, NE,
Amy & Todd Baker & four children of Omaha, NE,
Shawn & Keri Paulson & two children of Fairfax, SD.
Dale & Ruth Paulson of Wessington, SD, their three daughters:
Tera & Joe Lopez & eight children of Wessington Springs, SD,
Margo & Steve Mitchell & fourteen children of Wentworth, MO,
Tracy & Jason Short & eight children of Harrisonville, MO.
Donn Paulson of Colome, SD, his son: Grant Berens & one child of Colome, SD.
Also surviving are sister Olive Anderson, brother Lyle DeHaan, and sister-in-law LeeAnn DeHaan.
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