Pauline Gutelle, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, computer programmer, duplicate bridge Life Master, and pianist, died peacefully at the age of 98 on January 31, 2024.
Born on April 1, 1925, in Ilion, a small town near Utica, New York, Pauline moved to the Bronx with her parents Sam and Sarah Kerker and her older brother Milton when she was six years old. She spent the next 25 years of her life in that borough, enrolling at Hunter College at age 16. After graduating in 1945, Pauline married Lieutenant Irwin Gutelle and became a mother for the first time two years later. Like many women of her generation, life came at her fast!
After settling in Yonkers, New York, Pauline devoted herself to her growing family. But as her children got older, Pauline became restless with her life as a homemaker and returned to school, earning a master’s degree in education, intending to teach junior high school math. Instead, she took a job as a biostatistical programmer at Montefiore Hospital, writing programs in COBOL and FORTRAN on thick stacks of punch cards. Over time she became the assistant director of her department, where she worked until her retirement in 1991. Her younger colleagues greatly admired Pauline for her guidance and good humor, describing her as “curious, perceptive, intelligent, and fun!”
Like her father whom she adored, Pauline needed to keep busy. After playing bridge casually when she was younger, she discovered duplicate bridge rising to the level of Silver Life Master. She took up needlepoint, turning sketches that Irwin drew into unique works of art. After she and Irwin moved to Westchester Meadows (now The Knolls) in Valhalla, Pauline was a regular in the Wednesday night poker game. With her head for cards, Pauline almost always left the table with her plastic cup of nickels, dimes, and quarters a little fuller than when she had sat down to play.
Pauline hated being forced to take piano lessons as a child, yet half a century later she started playing again. In addition to years of weekly lessons, she regularly played duets and trios with some of the wonderful friends she made at Westchester Meadows. She continued to play until arthritis in her hands made it difficult to maintain the high standard that she had set for herself.
Pauline was preceded in death by her husband Irwin who passed away in 2010. She is survived by her daughter Jill Weinstein (Michael), son Andrew Gutelle (Sena Messer), grandchildren Dara Astmann (Chad), Chloe Gutelle, and Sam Gutelle, and great-grandchildren Jordan Astmann and Cooper Astmann. Her family wishes to express their deep appreciation to Pauline’s caregivers for their kindness and devotion: Kerri Anne, Carmelita, Shauna, Serian, Yanneak, and Andrea.
Donations in Pauline’s memory may be made to Planned Parenthood https://www.plannedparenthood.org or to the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org
Here are some other ways you might take a moment to honor Pauline: Enjoy your favorite card game, doing your very best to win. Rediscover the pleasure of playing a musical instrument or return to some other long-forgotten hobby. Finally, at the end of a fulfilling day, sit back and relax with the cocktail of your choice.
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