Member Highlight: Ralph Paulson
Ralph Poulson’s life has spanned this country, from
Florida to Washington State, with a lot of living in-between, and some outside
the U.S. His voice, when I contacted him
for this interview, was friendly and approachable, and I made an instantaneous
mini-decision as to whether to put “Reverend” at the beginning of his
name. And so he is “Ralph,” though I am
always aware of the invisible title.
Ralph
was born in Miami. When he was five, the
family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He
grew up there, and on graduation from high school enrolled in Biola Bible
College, for by then he knew what he wanted to do in life. At Biola he met Margie, who became his life
partner. Margie was born in Bellingham
and her parents, George and Frances Monroe owned a funeral home, which they
eventually sold to the Moles family.
Margie got her B.A. degree from Biola, then went on to earn her LPN from
Biola’s School of Missionary Medicine.
Ralph also received his B.A. degree from Biola.
They
were married August 20, 1952 at her home church, the First Baptist Church of
Ferndale. For the next few years he
worked at Safeway Grocery Store on Main Street, where the Athletic Store now
is. They also both worked for a brief
period at The Firs, she as secretary to Grant Whipple.
In 1957
the church sent them to Brazil as missionaries, under the auspices of the
Association of Baptists for World Evangelism.
This was the beginning of 25 years of service in that country, and was
an interesting and fulfilling time for them.
There their son Rawlie was born, in Sao Paulo. Two years later while they were in the Amazon
jungle, they flew to Iquitos, Peru for the birth of their daughter Joy. Unfortunately, she had significant
disabilities, and needed special care. They found that care for her at the
Shepherd Home in Wisconsin, where she lived for 45 years.
They
found life in the jungle had unexpected conveniences. Their first home was a
comfortable brand new tool shed which their fellow missionaries built and let
them use until the missionaries left for furlough in America. Margie and Ralph moved into the now-vacant missionary house. It was complete with a flush toilet. Supplies were readily available from a
Columbian drug store across the Amazon River, and any ordered needs took only a few weeks to arrive. They even bought a kerosene-powered freezer, and
taught the missionaries how to use this appliance efficiently.
They taught in the village school, he the older children,
she the younger, and there was usually
an enrollment of about 40 students. Classes were actually held in Ralph’s
study, which was separate from their home.
The roof was thatched, and breezes blew through the structure, keeping
them all comfortably cool.
After a
decade of living in the jungle they were sent to Natal, Brazil. Ralph was given the title of Director of the
Berean Seminary, a school which trained young people to be pastors and church
workers. They spent 14 years in Natal.
In the
early eighties Margie became ill and they returned to Ferndale. The First Baptist Church called him to be its
pastor, and he served it for 18 years.
As soon as he retired from First Baptist, the Shepherd
Home contacted him and asked if he would be its West Coast representative. For 11 years he and Margie traveled in their
RV throughout 8 states. He resigned from
this position when Margie again had medical problems, but the company would not
accept his resignation. He was told to
stay at home, take care of her, make customer contacts by telephone, and draw
his salary. He was 79 at this time. He
did this for a year, then retired for good.
In 2012 Shepherd
Home notified them that it could no longer care for their daughter because its
staff was incapable of giving her the added care she needed. After some
telephone calls, they were able to place her at the Christian Health Care
Center of Lynden and she lived there until her death in July of the same year.
Ralph had started the Ferndale Senior Center Bible Class while he was the minister of First Baptist, and taught it for 7 years, but gave it up after Shepherd's contacted him. Later, in 2012, he was approached by the Center and gladly took over the class again. Expecting just a few people at the first session, he entered the room to find it filled with many faces. The group is still growing today.
Their son and his family live in Stanwood, Rawlie and his wife have 3 children: 2 sons and a daughter. Ralph occasionally works for him, paints buildings. Ralph also enjoys decorative painting, and in the past has done Thanksgiving and Christmas themes on Ferndale store windows.
Asked about a personal philosophy for us all, he said "Live a Christian life that's pleasing to the Lord, and maintain a good relationship with your fellow man." He himself follows it well.
---And THE BOOK? Yes, it's almost done, and he even divulged its name, till now unrevealed: From a Canoe to a Chevy-Brazil: Memories and Ministries. So far, there are 195 "stories" depicting life on the Amazon. A Bible verse is at the end of each one. He envisions a Christmas release, and publication has already been arranged. We will be waiting to read it, Ralph!
Written by Peggy Stone
August 2013
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