Paula Whited
Remembered as a caring, sensible, and independent woman, Paula Leena Whited was born April 25th, 1949, in Helsinki, Finland to Jouko and Leila Mäkisalo. She grew up alongside her older brother Eero and younger sister Kirsi in the aftermath of postwar Finland. She enjoyed outdoor activities, road trips, making clothing, and various forms of needlework and sewing; a passion and talent she continued for the rest of her life. She also had a strong caretaking instinct and dreamed of one day becoming a nurse and mother.
In January 1970, she moved to New York City for economic opportunities and adventure. Following her wanderlust, a few years later she took a bus across the country, where she found clerical and housekeeping work in Los Angeles. After saving up money, she attended UCLA to receive a BA in German and to study Russian. She briefly returned to Finland in 1977 to be near family and worked as a teacher’s assistant in an elementary school. After moving back to LA, she met her future husband, Richard, in 1979, at a Christmas Party. They got married two years later in his hometown of Santa Barbara where they had and raised two kids. She graduated from the nursing program at the LA County Medical Center just one month before she gave birth to her first child, Tanja. She then briefly worked as an RN at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, before deciding to devote all her energy to her kids. She had fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse and mother.
As a mother, she enjoyed using her artistic talents to create Halloween costumes for her children and tutus for Tanja’s ballet school. She continued her love of traveling, making multiple trips back to Finland with her kids. Once her children grew up, she cruised frequently, visiting all 7 continents, which allowed her to explore her love of languages and history. She also donated to wildlife organizations and made quilts for underprivileged kids.
Following the death of Richard in 2021, she moved to Bellingham, WA to be near her son, Daniel. In her final years, she enjoyed the company of her grandson Ryan. She died on October 31st, 2025, from cancer. She’s survived by her two children Tanja and Daniel, Daniel’s wife Ou, grandson Ryan, and sisters Irja and Kirsi and their families.
