She was born in Vienna, Austria, on June 29, 1922, the daughter of Norbert and Mina Butterklee, and sister of Samuel Butterklee.
At age 17, to escape the persecution and slaughter of the Jews during the Nazi occupation of Austria, Paula’s parents were forced to send her and her brother to the United States. Her brother went first, as he was in immediate danger of being taken by the Nazis. Paula barely escaped death when, just by chance, she missed the ship she was supposed to depart on, and it was bombed and sank. After a successful escape on the SS Rotterdam, she arrived in New York City in 1939, and lived with a family in White Plains, who took care of her for several years. While they managed to escape, Paula and Sam’s lives were forever changed. They lost many things, including their family and homeland, as well as realization of their ambitions — to be a dress designer and an engineer, respectively.
Her parents were never able to obtain visas and escape the Nazis, and were systematically stripped of everything they had and then murdered during the Holocaust. More than 90 letters sent to their children overseas, written between 1939 and 1941, explain their desperate, futile struggle and are archived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (http://collections.ushmm.org/search/cat alog/irn517145).
Following the war, Paula met Nathan Marsand, a decorated WWII veteran, who worked in a jewelry store owned by friends of Paula’s sponsoring family. They married not too long afterward. Nat bought White’s Jewelry Store in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where they raised their daughter Mona, and lived until the 1970s, when they retired and moved to Deerfield Beach, Fla. Nat died in 1984, and Paula spoke of him and her love for him every day since.
Paula was happy as wife and mother, as well as with working with Nat in the jewelry store, but she still managed to put her skills as a fine seamstress to use throughout her life, showing keen insight into clothing design, and always dressing impeccably. Paula loved to eat — her favorite foods included steak, chocolate, and dark beer. She also loved to play mahjong, cards, and bingo, as well as do word searches. She always enjoyed traveling, including a trip to Israel later in life. Above all, she was proud of her daughter and grateful for her family, and moved to Brunswick, Maine, in 2010, to be closer to them.
Paula is survived by her brother Samuel Butterklee and his wife Edith of Seattle, Wash.; daughter Mona Schlein and her husband Paul of Arrowsic, Maine; granddaughter Rachel Schlein and her husband Chad Conley of Portland, Maine; nephew Neil Butterklee and his wife Arlene of Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; and nephew Barry Butterklee, wife Doreen, and daughters Hannah and Sarah of Seattle, Wash.
Donations can be made in Paula’s name to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/.
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