On 30 Dec 1922 Florence Marie married Ernest Thorne Thompson, son of Ernest Hycinthe Thompson & Annie Louise Thorne, in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Born on 8 Nov 1897 in Saint John, Saint John Co., New Brunswick, Canada. Ernest Thorne died in Muscongus Point, Bristol, Lincoln Co., Maine, U.S.A., on 8 Jun 1992; he was 94.

Ernest Thompson was an ensign in the United States Navy during the First World War.

Florence Paulsen and Ernest Thompson both attended the Massachusetts School of Art (now Massachusetts College of Art) from which they both received diplomas in 1920 (as the school was not yet a degree awarding institution). Florence Paulsen taught school at Newport, New Hampshire from 1920-1922. Ernest Thompson did some graduate work in 1920-1921 at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, Mass. (which was not a degree granting programme at that time).

In 1922 Florence and Ernest Thompson removed to South Bend, Indiana when he accepted a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame. He was a professor of art and Director of the School of Fine Arts at the University. He taught there from 1922 to 1929. While at Notre Dame, he sculpted the statue of the ‘Flying Horsemen’ and the Stations of the Cross.

Florence Thompson also taught at University of Notre Dame. She was the first female faculty member at the University. She taught art from 1926 to 1929. Together Ernest and Florence Thompson organized the art department at Notre Dame.

The 1930 U.S. federal census records that Ernest T. and Florence M. Thompson and their son resided at 150 Franklin St., New Rochelle, New York. The Thompsons owned their home but the valued was stated as unknown. They owned a radio set. Ernest Thompson was a fine arts artist, and Florence Thompson was a graphic artist. Ernest Thomson was born in English Canada. Florence Thompson was born in Massachusetts. Ernest T. Thompson, Jr. was born in Indiana. Artist Richard Bennett boarded in their household. (T626-1663, New York: New Rochelle, ED 248, p. 8B)

The Thompsons left the University of Notre Dame in 1929 and removed to New Rochelle, N.Y. At New Rochelle they founded and organized the art department at the College of New Rochelle, which is an Ursuline Roman Catholic college. Ernest Thompson started teaching at New Rochelle in 1929 and Florence Thompson in 1932. They remained at the College until retirement in 1968. While at the College of New Rochelle, Ernest Thompson was chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts and Director of the Huguenot School of Art [also located at New Rochelle, N.Y.] from 1947 to 1951. In 1980 they both received honourary degrees of Doctor of Fine Arts from the College of New Rochelle.

Florence Thompson’s interest in art was primarily enamel work on metal and ceramics. She also worked with stencilling. She made her own stencils. Ernest was primarily a painter in the medium of watercolours. He also sculpted. He was an amateur astronomer and had been working on grinding a lens for a telescope.

Ernest Thompson held memberships in the American Watercolor Society, of which he was a past director; the Allied Artists of America, of which he was president (1965-67) and an honourary life member; the Chicago Society of Etchers; the Hudson Valley Art Association; the New Rochelle Art Association; the Grand Central Art Galleries, of New York City; the Pemaquid Group of Artists at Bristol, Maine; and the Salmagundi Club, of New York City. He exhibited individually at the Farnsworth Museum at Rockland, Maine (1955) and the College of New Rochelle (1955). He participated in group exhibitions at the New Rochelle [N.Y.] Library (1942, 1950) and the Society of Illustrators at New York City (1945). His work is represented in the permanent collections of the University of Notre Dame, the National Museum at Washington, D.C. and the Bibliotheque nationale at Paris, France. He was on the board of Directors of the Maine Gallery at Wiscasset, Maine and received awards for his art: the Rudolf Lesch Award and Medal from the American Watercolor Society (1955); the Saportas Award (1964); and the Charles L. Fox Award from the Farnsworth Museum (1974).

Upon retiring they removed Bristol, Maine where they maintained a summer home. Later they moved to Muscongus Point, Bristol, Maine.

On 8 Oct 1927 Iver Emanuel first married Bernice Alvira White , daughter of James Nelson White & Christina Stewart, in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Born on 18 Apr 1908 in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Bernice Alvira died in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A., on 4 Nov 1956; she was 48.21

On 28 Jun 1957 Iver Emanuel second married Allois Marguerette Hyson , daughter of Frederick Judson Hyson & Mary Selena Eisenhauer, in Brattleboro, Windham Co., Vermont, U.S.A. Born on 15 Nov 1908 in Oakland, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, Canada. Allois Marguerette died in Lunenburg, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, Canada, in Sep 1982; she was 73. Buried in Mahone Bay, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, Canada.

Lois Paulsen died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease, a.k.a. motor neuron disease).

On 21 Feb 1942 Richard married Deborah Elizabeth Marion, daughter of Henry Elmer Marion & Helen Hannah King, in Billerica, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Born on 2 Mar 1914 in Stoneham, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Deborah Elizabeth died in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A., on 23 Nov 1989; she was 75.

As a child Richard Paulsen survived infantile polio.

After graduating high school in 1930, Richard Paulsen went to work for his brother Iver Paulsen rather than attend the University of Notre Dame with a tuition waiver because of his sister’s position. He worked as a house painter until 1942 when he joined the Signal Corps which was a civilian war-time agency of the federal government. As a member of the Signal Corps, the government sent him to take classes in electronics at Northeastern University at Boston, Mass. in 1942; at Philco. at Philadelphia, Penn. in 1943; at Dayton, Ohio in 1943; at New York, N.Y. in 1943-44; and Rome, N.Y. in 1944. After taking the classes, Richard Paulsen was stationed at Bradley Field, Windsor Locks, Conn. and worked as a radio repairperson for airplanes. When the Second World War ended, Richard Paulsen and the family removed to Billerica, Mass. until 1949 when they removed to Woburn, Mass.

After the War, Richard Paulsen returned to working with his brother. When Iver Paulsen retired in 1963, he turned the business over to Richard and Arnold Paulsen. They maintained the business until they retired in 1977.

Richard Paulsen had been a ham radio operator since 1935. He held memberships in the Quannapowitt Radio Club and the American Amateur Radio Relay League. He and Deborah also participated in sports car rallying and were members of the North Shore Touring Club.

Deborah Marion grew up in Wilmington, Mass. and attended public school there. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the nursing programme at the Choate Memorial Hospital School of Nursing at Woburn, Mass. She graduated from the nursing school in 1937 and became a registered nurse at Choate Memorial Hospital. Deborah Paulsen worked at Choate for over forty years, retiring in 1979. During her tenure at Choate she served as an operating room nurse, supervisor, floor nurse and ended her career as Central Service Supervisor.

In addition to being a nurse, Deborah Paulsen was active in many Woburn area organizations. She was the recording secretary of the Woburn Women’s Club and an organizer of the Woburn Senior Citizens Center. The Meals on Wheels programme was another organization to which she volunteered her time. Deborah Paulsen was also a member of the Minuteman Council on Aging. (Daily Times Chronicle, Woburn, Mass. 24 November 1989)

The Paulsen family were members of the First Baptist Church of Woburn, Mass.

On 13 Aug 1940 Arnold [Thomas] married Phyllis M. Ross, daughter of Dennis Alfred Ross & Evangeline Evans Fowler, in Bristol, Lincoln Co., Maine, U.S.A. Born on 17 Jul 1919 in Groveland, Essex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A.21 Phyllis M. died in Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, U.S.A., on 20 Jan 2009; she was 89.

Arnold Paulsen adopted his middle name of Thomas as an adult.

Arnold Paulsen started working as a house painter for his brother Iver Paulsen in 1931 after he graduated high school. During the Second World War, he worked for General Ship and Engine Co. from 1941-45. After the war he returned to work for his brother. In 1963 when Iver Paulsen retired, Arnold Paulsen and his brother Richard took over the business until they retired. Arnold Paulsen was a talented organist and woodcraftsman. He built his own home adjacent to the Paulsen family homestead on Sherman Place, Woburn.