Judy Marie Pauls

Judy Pauls, age 72, of Wausau, passed away with her family by her side on March 19th, 2025 at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

A memorial visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 25th from 11:00 AM -12:00 PM, with a time of sharing, at Helke Funeral Home, 302 Spruce Street, Wausau.

Judy was born on October 10, 1952, to Edwin and Elizabeth (Fleckenstein) Dudek, in Roseburg, Oregon. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Wausau, Wisconsin in her teen years. Judy graduated from Wausau High School in 1971, and married the love of her life, Wesley Pauls, Jr., in 1972. Together, they raised four children in Wausau: Jason, Nathan, Victoria, and Natalie.

In her younger years, Judy could be found playing in her local softball and bowling leagues. Judy and Wesley enjoyed spending time with their friends motorcycling their way through Wisconsin. They dubbed this crew the “Over the Hill Gang”. Eventually this crew made fun memories at the Lodge where they spent time playing card games, fishing, boating, and hosting pig-roasts.

Judy retired from Kraft after 30+ years, where she had a lot of special friendships and was part of the “Kraft Mafia”. After retirement, Judy looked forward to her monthly lunch dates with her work friends. Judy worked many years on 2nd and 3rd shift, and often after these late shifts she would surprise her kids by bringing home a box of donuts from Kreuger’s Bakery, which served as an incentive for the kids to get out of bed in the morning to call dibs on their favorite donut.

As empty nesters, Judy and Wesley traveled to St Kitts, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and completed the Route 66 road trip, enjoying these locales with friends and family alike. Judy loved to escape to the local casinos or jump on a last-minute WoJo tour. Judy spent a whirl-wind trip to New York with her daughters, taking a rickshaw ride through Central Park and racing down 5th Avenue to get to the theatre in time for a showing of Jersey Boys. She often lamented on this memory with laughter.

Judy loved having everyone over at her home and never turned away a pop-in visitor. One of her favorite things was getting together for holiday meals at her house. It was always a great opportunity for her to test new recipes on the family. Some of these experiments have fondly been referred to her by her children as “Judy Surprise”. They always made for great conversation later.

Her biggest source of pride and love were her grandchildren. She enjoyed celebrating their successes with sports, theater, traveling, and careers. She displayed their photos proudly and it always brightened her day when she saw new pictures pop up in her digital photo frame. Christmas was her favorite time of year when she was able to see them all together laughing, sharing stories and playing games – especially playing Spoons which always created friendly competition.

Judy is survived by her husband of 53 years, Wesley Pauls, Jr.; children Jason (Melanie) Pauls, Nathan (Melinda) Pauls, Victoria (Bryan) Notz, and Natalie (Derek) Grover; grandchildren Bennett Pauls, Hayden Pauls, Adler Pauls, Savannah (Jordan) Jones, Skylar Pauls, Alexander Notz, Vivian Notz, and Gracelyn Grover; siblings Carol (Jim) Hafer; John (Shirley) Dudek, Jane (Scott) Kraft, sister-in-law Cindy (Lee) Burnett, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents Edwin and Elizabeth Dudek; and siblings Farrell Fleckenstein, Jim Dudek, and Louise (Jim) Lentz.

In lieu of flowers, we invite you to donate to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN, 38105.