Sieglinde (Wegehaupt) Paulsen

Sieglinde Helene Martha Wegehaupt Paulsen, 86, of Moline, passed away on Friday June 27, 2025, at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf, IA. Special thanks are given to her nurse and friend, Carole Tolley, and Drs. Dawn Bode and Richard Payden.

Visitation will be from 4 – 7 p.m. on Monday July 7, 2025, at Esterdahl Mortuary and Crematory, Ltd., Moline. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday July 8, 2025, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Moline, with a visitation also one hour before the service. Burial will immediately follow the service at Moline Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to Holy Cross Lutheran Church, the Clarissa Cook Hospice House, or the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Sieglinde was born July 25, 1938, in Breslau, Silesia, Germany, the daughter of Gerhard and Martha Wegehaupt, and they lived in the town of Wilkau. In 1945, she, along with family, fled the advancing Soviet army, eventually settling in Grafenau, Bavaria. Her family legally immigrated to the United States in 1951 and were sponsored by relatives living in Dimock and Parkston, South Dakota. She briefly attended Westfield (Iowa) High School before graduating from Rock Island High School in 1953. In 1955, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

On May 18, 1957, she married her beloved husband, Richard Paulsen, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Rock Island. After moving to Moline in 1976, she and her family joined Holy Cross Lutheran Church. She was active in the PTA at Denkmann grade school in Rock Island, LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League), and with several volunteer groups at Illini Hospital.

In addition to raising her family, Sieg worked at The Rock Island Bank & Trust Company, and at American Bank of Rock Island, eventually earning promotions to the level of Assistant Cashier.

Sieg enjoyed travelling (visiting over 40 states and 16 countries), crocheting and sewing, her German heritage, music, writing, computers and technology, and most of all being with her family. She was an avid fan of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, including being a season ticket holder at Kinnick Stadium for 31 years and a participant in the Ladies Football Academy to benefit the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. She and her family traveled many times to St. Louis to cheer on the Cardinals, and Sieg could be found at any event, concert, or game in which her family members participated, played, or coached.

Survivors include her son, Stephen, New Lenox; son, Scott, Peoria; daughter, Susan Paulsen Weinstock (Tracy Bennett), Sycamore, and his daughters Kiersten and Kaleigh; granddaughters, Samantha and great grandsons, Carter and Colton; Kristin; and Brianna (Cal) and great grandson Levi; sister Siegrid Leland (Dale) of Sealy, Texas; brothers-in-law Don Paulsen and Ken Paulsen; many loved nieces and nephews; and many German relatives living in South Dakota and Germany. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband (2019), and also by sisters-in-law Gloria Paulsen and Janice Stubbs.

Memories may be shared on the tribute wall at esterdahl.com.