Harlan Paulsen

Harlan J. Paulsen passed away peacefully April 2, 2017, at age 105 at the Miller Memorial Care Center in Chappell.

Not many people have the privilege of knowing someone who’s lived more than a century. For that reason, we will celebrate Harlan’s life at 10:30 a.m. Friday April 7, 2017 at the Kowanda Church south of Oshkosh with Wayne Fraass, PMA officiating. Burial will follow in the Kowanda Cemetery.

Visitation will be held on Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh.

Memorials are suggested to the Kowanda Historical Church.

Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Oshkosh is serving the Paulsen family.

He was born the fourth child of Niss J. and Blanch (Blair) Paulsen of Oshkosh, NE, March 9, 1912. The family lived about two miles east of Oshkosh where Harlan and his five siblings attended the Oshkosh Grade School and Garden County High School--Harlan graduating in 1929.

After graduation, Harlan lived and worked for Cy Kemplin on a school section northeast of Oshkosh. He married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth E. Lancaster, on Dec. 31, 1935 in Stapleton, NE. Harlan and Elizabeth then moved to land on the tableland south of Oshkosh, which his father had inherited. There, with the help of Harlan’s father and brother, Gene, he constructed a barn, as well as a garage the couple lived in until the house was completed. The couple had two children, Wesley and Wanda.

Harlan raised cows, chickens, and hogs. His cow herd was initially the dual purpose Red Polled breed for both beef and milk. Later he quit milking and moved into a larger Polled Hereford herd derived from the Earl Blanchard Herd. He farmed with horses, Belgians and Percherons, which were draft horses he and his brother broke. In 1940, he purchased a Farmall tractor, and workhorse usage declined. He farmed and raised hard red winter wheat, oats, and corn, as well as mowed and stacked prairie hay for winter feed for cattle.

Harlan loved his land and his animals, and passed that passion on to his children and grandchildren. He always got his grandkids involved in all workings of the farm--plucking the chickens, shaving the sheep, branding the calves, riding the horses, harvesting the wheat, putting up the hay, and the list goes on and on. He was a proud grandfather, and when he moved to the Miller Memorial CC in 2009, it was his 11 great-grandchildren who would always light up his face. And, with the help of loving and caring employees at Miller Memorial, he was able to celebrate his 105th birthday on March 9.

Harlan is survived by his daughter Wanda Wiggins, son Wes and wife Pat; five grandchildren Gene (Kim), Suzi (Steve) Fatigante, Tony (Renee), Gale (Vesna) and Gary; and 11 great-grandchildren, Kate, Allie, Nick (Gene), Capri, Weber, Grafton (Suzi), Meagan, Anthony, Cassandra (Tony), Wyatt, and Blair (Gale).

He was preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth, his parents Niss and Blanch, sister Lacy and husband Orlo Hall, Hazel and husband Leslie Moore, followed by husband Allen Bath, Dorothy and husband Ted Tillman, brother Eugene and wife Marie, sister Ethyl and husband Ray Kelley, and son-in-law Jon Wiggins.