Ruth Mary, daughter of Dominic Ignatius and Gertrude (Blenkush) Threinen, was born December 2, 1927 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Later, the family moved to San Diego, and it was there that through her father's befriending of the pioneer sisters at Old Town, Ruth met our community and decided to enter.

In March, 1955, M.  M. Carmelita made a trip to Clyde from San Diego, and so Ruth donned the garb of a postulant and accompanied her, arriving on March 19. She said, "Life was quite different for someone who had been more than slightly independent before coming to Clyde, but the grace of God saw me through and our group of twelve was invested Sept. 8, 1955.”

Her first profession was October 5, 1957, her final profession on October 5, 1962. She received the name. Sister Mary Paul, later changed to Paulette Marie. Her first transfer in April, 1966, was to be a member of the pioneer group in St. Louis. "I went along and had charge of the Correspondence Department. The joys of being a pioneer are many and the experiences give one a deep feeling of solidarity with all who lived through those happy and hectic first days in our Generalate House." 

January 30, 1968, Sister was asked to go to San Diego to take charge of the Altar Bread Department (a department she had never worked in before!) She was most grateful to Sr. M. Zita who helped her run the department. Subsequently, Paulette was a member of our Tucson and Kansas City communities and served as Secretary General from 1974-82, and later as subprioress in San Diego.

Sister Paulette was a woman of many talents with a marvelous combination of dependability, efficiency, perfection, an outstanding vocabulary and skill in letter writing, and a delightful, unforgettable wit and sense of humor.

In 1980 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and ten years later, in 1990, with ovarian cancer. "My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish." Having heard these words of the Good Shepherd at our Eucharist on Tuesday, April 23, 1991, we should not have been surprised when he gently and unexpectedly called our dear Sister Paulette Marie to follow him into an everlasting life of peace, to free her from all anguish and pain. But we were surprised. She died minutes after trying to sing Vespers along with the sisters as she listened from her room. It was 7:15 p.m. when she took her last breath, with Sister Joy Ann at her side.