Susan Jane Chester Paulsen

Age 74, of Taos died unexpectedly on December 30th, 2020. Susan had a successful professional career in technology. She managed Corporate Sales at Illinois Bell and then at A.T. & T. where she is credited with helping launch the emergency 911 service in the Chicago area. She also enjoyed an assignment with A.T. & T. subsidiary Olivetti in Milan, Italy. She left A.T & T. to found her own company, which became IAC (International Accessibility Corporation) with her husband as partner. Its success included the development of the multilingual code allowing the Internet to operate worldwide. Since the sale of IAC, she and her husband retired and have lived the last 12 years in Taos. Susan was active in the Santa Cruz, CA Chamber of Commerce, and actively supported the Taos Community Foundation. Susan was an alumna of Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, WI, and of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI, where she received a B.A. in Journalism. She was an accomplished amateur genealogist and performed extensive research on family histories for friends and her own family members and an avid ski racer in her youth. She was born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin to Paul and Dorothy Schmitt who preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband of 30 years, James E. Paulsen, brother Paul F. Schmitt of N. Andover, MA , sister Betsy Schmitt Wordsman of Seaford, NY , sister-in-law Debbie Schmitt of N. Andover, MA, brother-in-law Arthur Wordsman of Seaford. NY, and nephews Matthew Schmitt of Boston, MA, and Brian Schmitt of N. Andover, MA. The family requests that in lieu of flowers that memorial contributions be made to the American Heart Association at www2.heart.org. Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home. To share a memory, please visit our website at www. riverafuneralhome.com