PAULSEN, MICHAEL A., LEE SUMMIT, MO 64086
Hello. Boring story but here it is. After high school I went to Nursing School in Omaha, NE. After 3 years I graduated as an RN and married Kay Summerer – from Norfolk, NE. She is a nurse also.
From 1979 to 1984 we lived in Omaha and I worked at Methodist Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit. During that time we had three children – Jaeme, Angela, and Ryan.
In 1984 I changed professions and moved into the world of medical sales. We moved to St. Louis area and lived there until 1989. We then moved to Kansas City area. During that time we started doing foster care for infants – mostly pre-adoptive babies. We did take state placements also – abuse, neglect, etc. A lot of our placements were medical needs babies because of our medical background.
In 1996 I moved from medical sales into high tech manufacturing sales and we moved to Minneapolis area. I continued in this market with several companies over the next 7 years. All of the kids graduated from high school during this time and I even went back to college and earned my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. We continued with foster care during this time and were active with a number of church programs. One daughter got married during this time and the other two kids went off to college.
In 2003 we moved back to Kansas City – Lee’s Summit to be exact. We built a home on the east side of town, got back into foster care there and settled down. Over the next 7 years we did a variety of things, and started several businesses with friends. Those companies have survived the test of time and are still operating.
In 2005 Kay was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. We continued to do foster care until September 2015 when we had to retire. She cared for 209 children over the last 26 years.
In 2010 I was “downsized” from the company I worked for after they went through a merger, and was scrambling to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. The short answer is I started my own consulting company and work with a number of different companies right now – one in KC, one in Columbia, MO, and one in Philadelphia. I do a variety of activities for them depending on their needs. Mostly around sales but have also been working on issues in Logistics, Operations, Finance, etc. A fun and challenging time for sure.
Both daughters are married and we have 6 grandkids – all of them in the KC area. We love having them close by. Our son Ryan is moving to Boulder, CO and starting a new life there with his fiancé – Nick.
Our life now revolves around church, grandkids, work, scuba diving (my vacation passion), and obstacle course races. I run these races mostly with my kids – it’s a family affair. Even my 11 year old granddaughter has run a 5 K obstacle race with me. This year will be the challenge of all times for me as I am running 11 races across the US - including a 24 hour endurance race in Las Vegas in November. Wish me luck – because I hate running. Kay’s health with the Parkinson’s continues to evolve over time and we adapt our schedule of activities around that. But we remain as active as possible.
I am an officer at Lee’s Summit Underwater Rescue and Recovery; it is a volunteer organization serving a wide area of the Midwest whenever underwater activities (find cars, boats, trucks, weapons, etc.) are needed. It is not like diving in the Caribbean for sure, but it is a challenge and I learn new stuff all the time.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple weeks.
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