Although suffering an illness that resulted in deafness at the age of six, she did not let that hinder her fine arts development and passion for life. She went on to play first chair clarinet at Wood River High School and earned her fine arts degree from Washington University (St. Louis). She was a talented portrait artist and even drew maps for the U.S. Air Force.
Pauline is survived by her husband of almost 70 years, Paul Eugene Thomas; children, Laura Valdez (Abe) and Bradley Thomas; granddaughter, Natalie Shelly (Wesley); and great-grandchildren, Aiden and Avery Shelly. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Shelly Heironimus.
Services will be private.
