Beth Jeanne Paul-Mersfelder

Beth was the oldest of four children: herself, her sister Patti (four years younger), her brother Don (7 years younger), and her brother Tim (11 years younger). She was very helpful to her mother and father in assisting in taking care of her siblings in her youth.

During that time, Beth lived in New York, Ohio, and Connecticut. She graduated High School in Simsbury, CT, and went on to attend Capital University in Columbus, OH, where she graduated in 1966 with a dual major in Elementary Education and High School Spanish.

Beth lived her life by the motto (and had a pin that stated) - “Those who can, teach.” This was evident by her accomplished teaching career which began in Columbus, OH, at Leawood Elementary where she taught Fifth grade. It was during that time that she had a blind student assigned to her classroom. That student molded and changed the trajectory of Beth’s teaching career as well as her life. Determined to rise to the challenge of learning to teach him and others like him, Beth enrolled in a Graduate program at Ohio State University and received a Master of Arts in the Education of Exceptional Children in August of 1969.

Following her husband in a move for change of employment, Beth became an Itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments with the City of Rochester Public Schools in 1972. It was then that she conceptualized and become a driving force for the beginning of Camp Smile, a summer camp for blind and visually-impaired children in Webster, New York. Camp Smile celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022.

After teaching blind and visually-impaired students for many years, in the mid-80’s, Beth was challenged once again when she was assigned a student who was deaf-blind since birth. Again, rising to the challenge, Beth took additional graduate-level courses at Michigan State University to learn how to teach deaf-blind students, also learning sign language in the process - as signing into a person’s hands (tactile sign language) is one of the primary ways of communicating with individuals who are both deaf and blind.

Ryan, her first deaf and blind student, was an orphan and a ward of the state. Due to his placement in a school for the blind, instead of for the deaf, he had never learned to communicate until Beth, along with her teammates, taught him tactile sign language and braille. Ryan went on to work at Goodwill Industries, participated in Special Olympics, and changed the lives of many individuals who had the opportunity to meet him.

In 1987 in Adrian, MI, Beth also started the High Vision Games, a large in-door and outdoor field day of games and events for visually-impaired and blind students that encouraged them to use portable optical devices in everyday situations. It included pairing visually-impaired youth with peers and sighted assistants in a team-building and athletic environment typically reserved only for sighted peers. As a result of the High Vision Games and its success, Beth was published in some educational journals and was honored to have been asked to present and speak at conferences in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Her teaching didn’t pause in the summer! Beth also worked for five summers at the Spanish camp, El Lago del Bosque, which is part of the Concordia Language Villages (an immersive summer language program) in Bemidji, MN.

Later in her career, she returned to live in Michigan to be closer to her aging parents and brothers. She finished her career by serving first graders for six years in the inner city of Detroit at Hutchinson Elementary and Clark Elementary.

After retiring from classroom teaching, Beth served two years on Mercy Ships, that was stationed off the coast of Ghana and Liberia. At Mercy Ships, Beth taught the 4th-6th grade children of physicians and staff on the ship. Following that time, she volunteered as Missions Teams Coordinator at JAARS in Waxhaw, NC for several years.

While her service to others through her work merits recognition and is something to be proud of, Beth expressed regret later in her life that the focus on her career and work came at a cost to her children and asked for forgiveness. She realized that her true joy came from her relationship with Christ (she was baptized in 2010), and she was most proud of her daughter, Linnea and son, Stephen. Beth also loved her grandchildren deeply, including her family’s two miniature dachshunds.

Beth was also known as “Belita” at El Lago del Bosque and by her in-laws in Campeche and Merida, Mexico; “Granny” by her granddaughters;” and “Dadda Momma” by her grandson.

Beth was preceded in death by her father Bert, mother Ruth, and sister Patti Larsen. Beth is survived by her daughter Linnea Watt (husband John, daughters Annika and Malin) of Waxhaw, NC, son Stephen Sael (wife Ingrid Esparza, son Pavel Benjamin) of Lincoln, NE, brother Don Paul (wife Cindy and son Max) of Northville, MI, brother Tim Paul (wife Abby, son Felipe, daughter Andrea), of Northville, MI, brother-in-law Jim Larsen (daughters Hallie, Kimberly, and Jillian) of Whidbey Island, WA, and her beloved cousin Ginger of CA.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Camp Smile in Webster, NY., via the link below or mail checks to;

Camp Smile

P O Box 1194

Webster, NY 14580

A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 pm on August 8, 2026, at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, 6800 South 14th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. A reception will follow the service in the lower level of the funeral home.