On December 9, 2018, we celebrated the release of Julianne E. Paegelow from her lifelong imprisonment of pain and anguish. She was 78 years old.
Born November 21, 1940 at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan to Victor A. and Edna A. (nee Wieseckel) Paegelow, Julianne spent most of her young years with her family. She attended two years of grade school at Our Lady of Good Help School in Champion, where she received her first communion and learned reading, writing and basic math from the nuns, skills which she retained for the rest of her life. In her adult life, she lived at Klemme Group Home in Sheboygan, St. Colletta’s in Jefferson, WI, Rocky Knoll in Plymouth and Dungarvin Group Home in Sheboygan. To her family, she was the great teacher of unconditional love.
As the result of a medical mishap at her birth, she suffered a lifetime with cerebral palsy and accompanying disabilities: crossed eyes, deformed feet and legs, facial, speech and cognitive impairments. She was subjected to bullying and ridicule all her life as a child who rode a 3-wheeled bike instead of a 2-wheeler like “the other kids,” and as an adult for being “handicapped” and “not normal”. As though the physical pain was not enough, insensitive people and bullies compounded her grief exponentially.
Julianne is survived by her sisters: Beverly J. (Kirk) Stubbs of Fountain Hill, AZ, and Mary Paegelow Thill of Sheboygan and her brother James F. G. “Jim” Paegelow of Carson City, NV. She is further survived by nieces and nephews: Vincent Pastore, Drena Pastore (Jeff) Herbert, Michele Schillingowski, Christina LeMahieu, Nigel Sommer and Seth Sommer, other relatives and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents and her sister Margaret “Peggy” Lynn Sommer.
A Memorial Mass will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, December 12 at St. Dominic Catholic Church, 2133 North 22nd Street in Sheboygan with Father Matthew Widder celebrating. The family will receive visitors at the church on Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:00 PM.
Her family extends special thanks to her many caregivers for their patience and care in helping Julianne on her journey through life: the staff of Dungarvin Group Home for 10 years of outstanding family living environment, to the staff of Sunny Ridge long-term care, and the staff of Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice that made her last days on this earth tolerable. As Christ on the cross, she carried a great burden for all of us. We thank you, God, for her hard-earned release from her earthly domain.
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Heaven’s Very Special Child
By Edna Massimilla
A meeting was held, quite far from earth
“It’s time again for another birth,”
Said the angels to the Lord above,
“This special child will need much love.”
Her progress may seem very slow,
Accomplishments she may not show
And she’ll require extra care
From all the folks she meets down there.
She may not run or laugh or play
Her thoughts may seem quite far away
In many ways she won’t adapt,
And she’ll be known as handicapped.
So let’s be careful where she’s sent
We want her life to be content.
Please, Lord, find the right parents who
Will do this special job for you.
They will not realize right away
The leading role they’re asked to play
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they’ll know the privilege given
In caring for this gift from heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild
Is heaven’s very special child.
Tiffany Christenson
