Paula A. Simonsen

02/18/2002

Paula Auguste Simonsen, 90, of 2350 Mohawk Trail died Monday at North Adams Regional Hospital. Born in Cologne, Germany, on Dec. 15, 1911, daughter of Oskar and Martha Hennings Olsson, she lived with her family in Hamburg and she attended schools there, including the Hamburg Technological Institutes. Mrs. Simonsen was employed in the bedding industries of Hamburg until 1932 when she moved to Wyka Foehr, Germany, and became a homemaker. During the summer months, she operated a bed and breakfast in Wyka Foehr until she emigrated to the United States in 1955. She had resided in Ozone Park and Queens, N.Y., and was employed in German delicatessens in New York City. She later was employed in the retirement homes in that area until retiring in 1973. She moved to North Adams in 1988 to be close to her family. She attended the Lutheran Church. Her husband, Heinrich Frederick Christian Simonsen, whom she married June 4, 1932, in Wyka Foehr, died March 6, 1996. She leaves two daughters, Inna Irma Gertje of North Adams, with whom she resided, and Eike S. Benzenhafer of Niceville, Fla.; a son, Heie Simonsen of Titusville, Fla.; 10 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. Predeceased by two grandchildren, Carmen Simonsen and Robert Benzenhafer, and sisters, Ellie Gilbert, Agnes Coldeve, Martha Elkan and Elfie Rykemann, and a brother, Karl Olsson. Funeral services will take place Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, with the Rev. William R. Wilson, pastor of Stamford, Vt., Community Church, officiating. Burial in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum, Titusville, Fla. Calling hours at the funeral home are Thursday, Feb. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. Memorial service will take place Thursday, Feb. 28, at North Brevard Funeral Home, Titusville, Fla. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested for Plattduetsche Old Folks Home Society through the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, 521 West Main St., North Adams, MA 01247.

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