Paula Marie Glenn
Paula Marie was born May 7th, 1967 at 12:42pm in Provo, Utah. She was the most beautiful baby…big, dark eyes and tons of hair.
As a child, she spent many summers in Springville, camping with her beloved Grandma and Grandpa Martinez and fishing with Grandma and Grandpa Morgan.
Growing up, she and her cousins Lesa and Deni were the Three Musketeers. This led to countless days of talk, laughter and adventure between them. I recently heard a story about Paula dressing her only boy cousin Brad in a dress. Why did that not surprise me?
In 1974 Paula and LuAnn moved to Salt Lake City. Paula blossomed in school and made some close friends. She loved to go to Trolley Square and play Galaga for hours and in fact became somewhat of a Galaga master, a talent she never lost…just ask Andrew. About 5 weeks ago, coming back from the coast, the family stopped in Boise for lunch. Paula found a Galaga game and on her first attempt, set a new high score. Then Andrew played and beat her. So she played again, and tripled her first score.
For 16 years it was the two of us (LuAnn & Paula) against the world. We watched Jazz basketball, played backgammon and talked endlessly. We basically grew up together.
Paula excelled in school, making the “Who’s Who†of high school students in 1982. In 1984 she welcomed our beautiful Hollee, who in so many ways saved her life. What a blessing she was then and is today. Paula was an amazing young mom who balanced school, work and all the demands of life while making time to care for her daughter.
Despite being a busy working mom, Paula found a way to return to school. After a few years, a lot of hard work and determination, she earned her associate’s degree in accounting.
Through all of life’s challenges, Paula was determined to give Hollee the best life possible. Eventually, she went to work at O.C. Tanner where the story continued…
By the summer of 1986, Paula was where she always was: in the dead center of everything; fixing, clarifying and improving. She was asked to train a new employee: a MAN WITH LOTS OF ROCKER HAIR! Little did she know, it would take the next 28 years. They talked incessantly and learned everything about each other.
Paula eventually left for bigger and better things: a career with Honeywell International. In 1990 a mutual friend set them up on a blind date — they’ve been together ever since. Early on, Shawn took Paula to a Scorpions concert. Being a morning person, she fell asleep in the 12th row! Not to be outdone, she took him to an MC Hammer concert, where he was the only long-haired rocker in the building, and probably the only one who couldn’t dance!
In sharing each other’s experiences, Paula went through a major trial by fire test: LuAnn’s only child went camping with Shawn’s loud and enormous extended family — the dreaded Hendricks clan. Not only did she survive, but she loved it. And they loved her.
On April 17th, 1993 Shawn and Paula (and their very excellent hair) were married in Pocatello in the same house his parents Bill and Mary Roberts were married…the home where he grew up.
Paula was a focused multi-tasker, but loved to laugh and could also be spontaneous. One Easter, Shawn took Paula and Hollee to Oregon for Easter. The trip was magical. Afterwards, Shawn returned from a short business trip to find a FOR SALE sign in the front yard…â€I found out Honeywell has a Portland Branch†was how that conversation started! Thankfully, it was not meant to be. But trips to Eugene, Lincoln City on the coast for lunch at MO’s, and stopping at Multnomah Falls became family tradition.
Heather was born in September of 1994, and Andrew followed 3 years and 3 days later. They were raised at the baseball fields, where every spare dime and every weekend was spent. Hollee excelled at fast pitch softball. Paula and Shawn cheered the Mustangs, and later the Lazers, on to 5th and 9th place finishes in the U.S.
Life was extremely busy. As Shawn worked out of town, Paula was climbing the corporate ladder, growing as a mom, becoming a great cook, and running a household. They started a hardwood flooring business so Shawn could be home more, and began to feel the weight of raising 3 kids, and being responsible for their spiritual wellbeing.
They set out on a seeker’s journey together. After quite a bit of searching, Paula’s coworker Joyce mentioned that her hairdresser was “always talking about Jesus, always talking about her church,†and maybe they should try there.
Her hairdresser was Teresa Hansen. The church was South Mountain Community Church. In those days, they met in a ‘dentist office’ type building on 9th East, and were celebrating 2 weeks in a row of 75 attenders! The worship team was Mike Bell, his wife Joani, and Julie Ayers. Within 5 minutes, they knew THIS was where God wanted them. Soon, the Glenns were never far from their shepherds, the Bells.
Shawn began a 10 year run on the worship team, and Paula became involved in multiple ministries. More and more of their lives revolved around Church. South Mountain grew, moved into a warehouse, and expanded exponentially. The Glenns moved from West Valley to Riverton, to be close to their new life.
Team Glenn also expanded: Hollee married Chris Toone, our Grandson Isaiah was born, and in 2003 Grace joined us, and was raised in the church — literally! Our Granddaughter Maliyah completed our family, and life was full.
After 17 years at Honeywell, Paula was granted a deep desire: To leave the corporate world and use all of her training and organizational skills for her church. It was her honor and joy to be in the middle of everything; fixing, clarifying and improving. Paula never stopped growing, adding new skills, or tiring of adding to the life of SMCC. She LOVED women’s Bible studies, staff meetings where the Baptisms and the testimonies of life change were celebrated; attending home groups, the launch of Shadow Mountain and the Daybreak campuses, retreats, VBS and singing in the Christmas concert choir. She became one of the people Paul counted on, and helped in the processes — from blueprint to move in — of this building.
But then Paula felt called back to the corporate world, back to Honeywell. She again dove into the fray, as an International business overhauled how they functioned, and the Glenns began to ‘pay it forward,’ serving at One Community Church with Tony and Shanda Simoncini.
In June of 2013, Paula went to an old and dear friend, Dr. Jeff Ayers. She had been to many doctors, and couldn’t shake a cough, and the feeling that something was wrong. She was diagnosed with cancer. It didn’t look good.
The Glenns decided to live through this in the same manner as the rest of their lives: openly, transparently and together. They put together a great team of friends, including Marie Cannon, and Jeff connected them to a great team at the Huntsman Cancer institute. Paula blogged and Facebooked every stage of her fight with a terrible, aggressive form of Lymphoma. She never stopped growing in the word, sharing, laughing, or fighting.
Or LIVING… There were birthdays, concerts, holidays, Godzilla movies, and Heather’s wedding to Nick Sauer. One amazing last trip to Lincoln City, one last trip to Park City to be in the Wasatch Mountains she loved so much. Even one week before her passing, she was working her garden, walking around her neighborhood, making plans to live, and threatening to haunt people if they didn’t agree to do things her way.
Paula was funny, loving, and the best example of a person fully devoted and fully delighted in chasing after Jesus Christ. She loved reading her Bible and discussing it’s truth. She loved her extended family, and cherished being a daughter, mom, Nana, an aunt, a sister, and true friend to so many. She was one of a kind, and never stopped praising or worshipping GOD, even unto her last breath.
Well done, you good and faithful servant! You Proverbs 31 woman! You are now, literally, at the center of everything. Loving the maker of all things, in the place you were made for, in the very presence of GOD.