Paula Schroeder

Paula Jean Schroeder, age 67, passed into deep peace in her St. Paul home with Tilly, a circle of women, and little pup Georgie beside her. Kidney disease took her body.

Paula voted before she left! Passionate about politics, she cared deeply about progressive efforts to resist the rise of fascism in our country. A fierce feminist who graduated in 1984 with a degree in Women's Studies from Mankato State University, she joined a powerful movement of women taking action to change the world. She volunteered to protect battered women and victims of sexual assault, spoke out against racism, fought for lesbian, gay, and transgender rights and the protection of men with AIDS, and advocated for dignity for children and adults with disabilities.

She was born to Lou (Hentges) and Bill Schroeder in the small town of McCook, Nebraska, home of the Arapaho and Pawnee people. At age ten, the family moved to Mankato, homeland of the Dakota Nation. Her parents shaped her passion for social justice: her father, a staunch advocate for public education, resisted the rising tide of public funding for private schools, and her mother, a nurse, created the first hospital policies for the humane treatment of patients with AIDS and helped develop the first hospice programs in Minnesota.

As the second of four siblings, Paula was independent, would not be bossed by anyone, and had absolute dominance over the rules of the bedroom shared with sister Pam. But she was also a protector of her younger siblings. She loved to swim, played coronet, and, as a teen, ran with a wild and fabulous group of girlfriends who remain friends still.

Paula cleaned homes, worked with children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities for 10 years, and then launched a 30-year career as a dog and cat groomer.

Paula and Tilly met in college amid the rising women's movement. They had their first kiss at a women's dance in the kissing booth and built deep friendships in Mankato before moving in 1986 to the Westside of St. Paul, next to West St. Paul. These two communities were dear to Paula. Old friends from Mankato, the River Grrls, Claudia, Suzy, and Lori, carried Paula so lovingly with wonderful laughs for her last six years living with kidney failure.

Paula loved travel, food, and the little ones in her life. She ventured to many lands and lived for a year with Tilly in Japan, where she learned to scuba dive, describing this as the greatest spiritual experience of her life. A huge foodie, she watched every cooking contest show on earth. Her 52 nieces and nephews brought many years of love into her life.

After Paula's first year living on dialysis, Santa put little Georgie in her stocking. He melted her heart and gave her so much happiness in her last years.

A big storyteller, Paula connected with people easily and made many friends in the pet world, with folks in the Twin Cities AA community, with neighbors, local business people, and with special friends at Tappers Neighborhood Pub.

Mostly, Paula was kind, generous, and believed in human decency. Lots of folks fall down on their luck or are not treated well in life. Paula could not tolerate this and helped so many over the years. In turn, she was helped often by others. Her embrace of Buddhist ways of living guided her in a world so deeply in need of compassion.

Survived by Julie "Tilly" Tilley, companion for 43 years, and those who encircled her at passing: sister Pam Schroeder Fechter, nieces Claire Fechter, Megan Tilley Erickson, and Ashley Tilley, sister-in-law Nancy Tilley, and bestie Lori Rieff. Also by brothers Pat and Kathy, Jeff Schroeder and Sue, and nieces and nephews: Lexie, Claire, Ellis, Dylan, Rachel, Jayla, Wyatt, and Anna. And by Tilly's siblings: Nancy, Barry and Donna, Ron and Cherie, Ann and George, Dean and Mary, Dick's Hixley, and sister cousin Farrand Anderson, along with 48 nieces and nephews.

A gathering to honor Paula will be Sunday, November 8, 2026, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Flora Room, 103 Concord Exchange N., South St. Paul, Minnesota 55075.

If you wish, consider a memorial to the Westside Community Organization to support our community's resistance to the ongoing invasion of ICE and violence against our immigrant neighbors. Or gift a person on the street who needs some help. https://www.wsco.org/donate2 or 209 Page Street W., Saint Paul, MN, 55107.