PAUL FREEMAN SAMUELSON, 97, passed away peacefully Friday evening May 5, 2017 at Sunset Knoll Care and Rehab Center in Aurelia following a fall in his home at Welcov Assisted Living in Alta, IA.

Memorial services will be held on Friday, May 12th, at 11 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor Norman Prather will officiate. Visitation with the family present will be on Friday from 10 a.m. until service time at the funeral home. Burial will be at Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake, Iowa. The family requests that memorials be made to Unity Point Hospice in Storm Lake, Iowa. On line condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Paul was born on a farm near Cleghorn in Rock Township, Cherokee County, Iowa on December 15, 1919 to Berger & Hertha (Hanson) Samuelson. He grew up on the farm and attended rural one-room schools. He graduated from Quimby High School in 1937 where he played basketball and saxophone in the band. Following graduation Paul worked on the farm with his father and as a hired man on neighboring farms for three years.

Paul met Wanda Mae Volkert at a dance in Cherokee in 1938 and they were married April 10, 1940 in Holstein, Iowa. Paul worked at Simonsen's Bean Mill from 1940 to 1943, then during World War II joined his father-in-law Ed Volkert in farming south of Quimby. He continued farming for 40 years on his own, raising row crops and livestock, until he retired in 1981.

Upon retiring "Red" (as he was called by family & friends) and Wanda moved to a home on Potato Lake outside of Park Rapids, Minnesota, living there and in St. Cloud, MN until the mid-1990's when they moved back to Newell and then later Aurelia, IA. Through the years the couple were blessed with three sons and a daughter: Roger, Gary, Ronald and Shari. Paul & Wanda celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary on April 10, 2017.

During his long life, Paul enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing cards and golf, using his welder to craft useful items for the home, building wind chimes, birdhouses, and reading, especially Western novels. He even had a backyard garden until just the last few years. He loved dancing with Wanda, enjoyed country and old time music, and traveling to visit children and grandchildren. Uncle Red was "a card" because he could always tell you a good joke, make babies smile and occasionally sing a bawdy song.

Paul was preceded in death by his brother Virgil (Lucille) Samuelson and sister Virgine (Harry) Carlson; also three sons Roger, Gary & Ronald, five brothers-in-law Wilbert Vohs, James Young, Lorne Hahn, Paul Volkert and Alvin (Erma) Volkert.

He is survived by his wife Wanda, daughter Shari (John) Wesely of Phoenix, AZ, daughter-in-law Gay Samuelson of Scottsdale, AZ, grandchildren James Samuelson (Marcia) of Newburyport, MA; Holly (Chris) Shill of Scottsdale, AZ, David Samuelson of Dilworth, MN and Vanessa (Scott) Sakai of Scottsdale, AZ, also great-grandchildren Nicole and Andrea Samuelson, Aaron and Sachi Sakai and Reagan Shill, sisters-in-law Frieda Vohs of Holstein, Iowa, Carolyn Young of Galva, Iowa, Janet Hahn of Aurelia, Iowa, Barbara Volkert of Cherokee, Iowa, plus many nieces and nephews.