Meet Your Neighbor Paula Louise Stull of Raritan, born in Carbondale and raised in Denmark, a small village of five houses, a store and a church in Southern Illinois. She moved to Raritan with her parents in 1978.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher
Meet Your Neighbor Paula Louise Stull of Raritan, born in Carbondale and raised in Denmark, a small village of five houses, a store and a church in Southern Illinois. She moved to Raritan with her parents in 1978.
Hubby Ted Stull is employed at Yetter Manfacturing in Colchester and Paula at Bygones and Buds, in Stronghurst, as a design florist, 2 1/2 days a week. Three days a week she babysits with her eight month old grandchild Claire.
Paula retired from WIU in 2011 as a Department Secretary in Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Administration after 32 years.
Her parents are Paul and Ruby Holder, both deceased. Paul was a baptist pastor in Denmark, Raritan (2 years), Roseville, and Johnson City. He passed away at 87 years of age. He was also a bus driver in southern Illinois and her mother, Ruby, was a homemaker.
She has two older sisters, Mary and Marilyn in Southern Illinois, and an older brother, Dan.
Paula's grandparents were from the Carbondale area. Her maternal grandfather is Hugh Stearns, a minister and also operated a locker.
She graduated from Trico High School in 1976 (America's bicentennial) and moved here in 1978.
Paula is church clerk at the Raritan Baptist Church and the pianist. She also is pianist for the Raritan Reformed Church.
Her hobbies are golf, hanging out with groups of friends, camping, traveling and "Taking The Quill Along".
Paula has two children, Seth that graduated in 2001 from Southern High School and then received a degree from WIU in Construction Management. He is employed in Keokuk, IA at Seither & Cherry. He keeps busy as an estimator and project manager. He and wife, Jill (Helling), live in Ft. Madison, IA (Jill's hometown). Jill works for Holy Trinity School (K-12) as a guidance counselor. The couple worked at the Ft. Madison Rodeo one night, a job she does each year in conjunction with the school.
Paula and Ted's daughter, Brooke, graduated in 2005 from Southern High School which was the last class to graduate. Brooke is an Operations Manager at the Raritan State Bank. She graduated from Western Illinois University in 2009 with a degree in finance. She is married to MacKenzie Day who works on the Evans Farm and they live west of Stronghurst. (MacKenzie is the son of Sally and the late Mike Day of Stronghurst).
Claire Louise Day is her 7 1/2 month old granddaughter who will be the first to call her "Grandma" and Paula can't wait to hear those words.
Claire's middle name has some history to it, and is not the first to have that middle name. There is Great Grandma Ruby Louise, Grandma Paula Louise, her mother Brooke Louise, and her paternal grandmother Sally Louise Day plus Sally's mom's middle name is Louise as well.
Paula's husband Ted's middle name is Leone and their son Seth carries that middle name too, but Paula laughs, but says it is highly unlikely that he will continue the tradition.
Special family vacations were a yearly rafting trip on the Meremac River in Missouri. Last year they enjoyed a trip with family and friends to Memphis, TN, and this year are planning a trip to Nashville, TN.
Future plans are waiting for more grandchildren to enjoy and more traveling and family gatherings.