Paula Mae Aseltine (Odette), 71, of Lawrenceville, Georgia passed away peacefully on Friday April 23, 2021, surrounded by her family. A native of Broad Brook, Connecticut, Paula earned her associate degree from the University of Connecticut before moving to Emerald Isle, North Carolina where she was a police dispatcher with the Emerald Isle Police Department. Within a few years, she returned home to Connecticut and soon became the first female police officer in the history of the South Windsor Police Department. After becoming a mother, she returned to police dispatching with the Vernon Police Department. After her retirement in 2005, she moved to Swansboro, North Carolina where she spent her next fifteen years living close to the beaches of Emerald Isle that she loved her entire life. While living in Swansboro, she served as a volunteer patrolling the beaches in the early morning searching for sea turtle nests to protect them from beachgoers, and also held a position on the board of the Villages at Swansboro Homeowners Association. She relocated to Georgia in September 2020 to be closer to her beloved grandsons. Paula was a passionate crafter, spending countless hours sewing quilts, crocheting, and basket weaving. She was a music lover, singing and playing her guitar and for a time played with her band, The Meadowlarks. She was an avid collector of rocks, minerals, and fossils and spent many hours searching the beach for specimens as well as attending rock and mineral shows to find new pieces for her vast collection. Paula was an intelligent, caring, funny, generous, honest, fearless woman, who made an impression on every person she met. Above all, she deeply loved her family and friends, for whom she would do anything. She was predeceased by her parents George and Marion (Kirchhof) Odette of Broad Brook, Connecticut and her brother Howard Odette of Newport, Vermont. She is survived by her son Paul Aseltine and future daughter-in-law Casey Bukowski of Canterbury, New Hampshire and her son James Aseltine and daughter-in-law Stephanie Aseltine of Lawrenceville; her grandchildren Logan, Jonah, and Rowan Aseltine, all of Lawrenceville; sisters Linda Langtange, Kerry Mulkern, Heidi Bradrick all of Connecticut; as well as numerous admiring nieces and nephews.
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