Paula Johansen

January 8, 1948 - January 10, 2018

My beloved friend, Paula Johansen, was born January 8, 1948 to Ned Johansen and Alice Brady Johansen Pickering.  Paula and her three sisters, Alice, Chris, and Gayle grew up in their beautiful home in Holladay, Utah. Paula graduated from Skyline High School in 1966 and continued her studies at Utah State University.  I had the great privilege of sharing those wonderful years with her and her family.  Her home was a riotous place of loud 60’s music, dancing, baking cookies, popping popcorn, knitting ponchos, and laughter, always laughter.  If we weren’t at her house, we would be riding their horses, water skiing behind their  boat, “Jo’s Girls” , taking trips to California with other friends or going to Yellowstone with her sister Alice in her 1965 Mustang convertible—all wonderful memories.  Paula was Miss Congeniality, fun, friendly and generous.  

After a couple of years at Utah State, Paula married John Moreau, her high school sweetheart.  They later divorced.  She became an LPN and several years later, Paula married Mark McNulty. Both John and Mark were 1966 graduates from Skyline High School.

Paula and I lost contact for many years, separated by time and space. During those years, Paula worked as a nurse at nursing homes in Salt Lake.  I didn’t reconnect with her until 2016. By that time, Paula was living with her niece and had major health issues that would eventually lead to her death January 10, 2018.  

I will always remember Paula as  a wonderful friend who made life a joy for all who knew her.  

Obituary written by Cami Walker Greenfield Warren