Paula "Jesse's Girl" K. McGee

Paula is survived by her loving family including her fiancé, Jesse "Cracker" Warmack of Punta Gorda, FL; her parents of Altoona; two brothers, Michael and his wife, Debbie, of Midlothian, Va., and Steve and his wife, Tammy, of Oceanport, NJ; and many wonderful friends.

Paula was a graduate of Punxsutawney High School and a graduate of Indiana University of PA with a bachelor degree in fine arts, majoring in pottery. She was employed with the state of Florida in the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. She was a member of the American Legion Riders and the American Legion Auxiliary, Post # 110, Port Charlotte, Florida.

She loved “playing in the mud” turning the soft, wet clay into pots and vessels, her family and friends, her dog Sadie, and road trips with the American Legion Riders, who ride for many charitable projects.

Memorial Services will be at 7 PM on Wednesday March 19th at the American Legion Post 110, 3152 Harbor Blvd., Port Charlotte, FL 33952.

Private memorial services will be held at Stevens Funeral Home, Altoona, PA at a later date. Interment will be at Lakelawn Memorial Park in the Punxsutawney, PA area.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the American Legion Riders of Post 110, ATTN: Captain Ed Morgan, 3152 Harbor Blvd, Port Charlotte, FL 33952. or the Humane Society, 1837 E. Pleasant Valley Blvd, Altoona, PA 16602.

Arrangements under the direction of Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery, Cape Coral, FL.

How does one capture the spirit of a loved one? We humans are so complex in our life experiences and what motivates us to action each moment of each day. In times of death, we take time for reflection of a loved one that ultimately takes us on a journey of our own self-reflection and the meaning of life.

Paula’s spirit was vibrant.

As a child she was curious and an eager learner. She was very funny, in an animated way; she was a character with many ‘funny faces’ that captured her every emotion. She was fearless and tested the boundaries of life. Her mother tells the story of Paula’s first set of wheels, her tricycle, and her first taste of freedom. Paula was provided the sidewalk as her ‘highway’ and could go no further than the concrete separator that crossed over to the neighbor’s property. She would race right up to that very line, stop just short of it, look back with her animated ‘tee-hee’ grin, and cross over the line while quickly turning her tricycle around to race back into the established safe zone. Yep, she was a Boundary Buster of the most spirited kind. Spurred to a challenge and eager to show what she could achieve.

Paula, born under the astrological sign of Cancer, was very much crab like in the sense that she moved through life mostly sideways. Her schooling and work experience were vast and wide. She completed three years towards a nursing degree and stepped sideways into completing a Bachelor degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) College of Fine Arts, majoring in Pottery. Her background in nursing laid the foundation for the healing arts. She had an extensive curiosity and vast knowledge of plants and homeopathic remedies. She could concoct any potion from a variety of herbs for salad dressings to cold remedies. The emphasis is on the word VARIETY. When making her morning tea she would have around 3-4 different tea bags tailored to what her body needed in a boiling pot and finished off with fresh ginger for inflammation. She was like a mad scientist and she delighted in that self-title of ‘Mad Max McGee’ as in crazy and not knowing what could come from her experimentation. Hmmm, a little of this and a little of that. The infinite possibilities were her motivation. And thus, a Reiki master was born.

She was an artist. She could draw, color, paint, and make caricatures of her family members. There were many cards and Christmas posters with her little doodles and artful take that graced the family throughout the years. Again, she actively worked with a VARIETY of colors, textures, and media from pencil to water color. She would voluntarily draw publicity flyers for Jaffa Shrine events and loved to draw the Famous Weather Prognosticator ‘Punxsutawney Phil’ as she too was born and raised Punxsutawney, PA before spending her adult life in the Florida sunshine. She was gifted in art, of that, there is no doubt. Her Mad McGee Pottery was one of her beloved creative outlets. She studied with some potters in Florida and was instrumental in establishing the Penn State Arts Extension for adult education where she was, naturally, a teacher. She adored molding the soft, wet clay into pots and vessels. She would often look at the clay before the wheel began to spin and ask: What do you want to become? There was a soul in that earth that she would coach into being. She loved creating something from nothing. A talent she used in every fabric of her life.

Her spirit was determined. She had a moral compass and was always willing to speak up for her principles. As a good friend, she was loyal and always had your back. This spirit carried her through the many hills and valleys of her life. Some might say ‘tenacious’; although the words ‘remarkably resilient’ seem to capture that essence. She had more types of jobs than some of us would have in 5 lifetimes, across various industries, a customer service representative for PA Bell and for a couple of other calling centers including Sprint, a sales representative for an organic farm, a produce manager for Sweet Bay, an office manager for a golf ball reclamation company, and most recently as a steward for those navigating through the DUI process for the State of Florida. Again, the thought of vast and wide life experience comes to mind. In the words of Beatrice Wood, a ceramic artist who worked on a potter’s wheel every day until she was the age of 103, “My life is full of mistakes. They are like pebbles that make a good road.”

All along the way, Paula was learning to expand her love. When she met Jesse Warmack it was quite evident to both his and her families that they were so very good to each other and for each other. As the lyrics of the Beatles tell us so poignantly “And in the end, the love we take; is equal to the love we make”. Their love for each other speaks volumes.

We are all, like Paula, motivated to molding our life accomplishments with our very own potter’s hands while learning to love. There is No Love in Vain.

Mud Maven – you will be missed . . . and loved.