Pauline Theresa Roy

Pauline Theresa (Dufault) Roy, age 91 of Minneapolis, formerly of Columbia Heights,
MN passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 10 th , 2025 at RiverVillage East.
Pauline was born, on the family farm, to Daniel and Alice Dufault on January 25 th , 1934
in Gentilly, MN. She attended Cripple Creek, a one-room schoolhouse in Gentilly
through eighth grade. It is rumored that one year, Pauline went home and told her dad
the teacher didn’t know math, so Pauline had to teach the teacher. Pauline graduated,
as valedictorian, from Mount St. Benedict high school in Crookston, MN. Pauline
attended the College of Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph, MN prior to moving to the Twin
Cities in 1953 to find employment.
Pauline’s first job was working for a CPA firm in downtown Minneapolis. She rode the
bus to work every day, walking to and from the bus stop in her high heels. Pauline had
many loves, and one of them was shoes. Even if wearing sneakers to and from the bus
had been a thing back then, you would not have seen Pauline wearing them. After 57
years of working for the same firm, Pauline retired at age 79, when her back finally said
“enough”!
Pauline loved to travel, she took advantage of every opportunity to do so. She traveled
with family and friends and enjoyed making new friends along the way. She loved
international travel. She had some of her greatest adventures in Italy which she visited
four times. Her last international trip was, appropriately, to France.
Pauline loved music and from an early age it was a big part of her life. As a young girl
she sang in a quartet with three of her sisters – The Dufault Sisters. They sang at
community events and once sang on the radio after winning a contest. They also
entertained at family events with Pauline often writing words to old tunes to fit whatever
occasion was being celebrated. As an adult Pauline sang in several church choirs and
at community events when she had the opportunity.
Pauline was an amazing mom. Despite the fact that she worked full time for 57 years,
she did not miss a beat in our lives. And she made sure that our lives were not impacted
by her work. She attended every event we participated in, and there were many. During
tax seasons, she would attend after school events and then go back to work for the
evenings. She also volunteered in many ways. She baked whenever asked, she timed
at swimming meets, she was treasurer more than once.
As a grandma, Pauline was a big supporter of all of her grandchildren and great
grandchildren. While she loved all of her daughters’ activities, with grandsons she got to
go to football and baseball games. Her learning about new sports continued with soccer,
gymnastics, basketball, track, figure skating, diving, and cheerleading. Then there was
band, orchestra, drama, and the occasional heavy metal gig. She traveled to Italy with
the high school orchestra, Las Vegas for figure skating and gymnastics, to Florida with

the college orchestra, and to Georgia for Basic Training graduation. And let’s not forget
every school program, 1 st communion, confirmation, graduation. She loved her
grandchildren dearly and it was her honor to spend time with them.
Pauline was fun and she was funny. She used to say, “have corkscrew, will travel”, and
she always carried a corkscrew in her travel bag (along with toothpicks and tissues).
She was a trailblazer (working from home long before Covid), and she didn’t take no for
an answer. Pauline loved to learn. Who else can type tax returns using carbon paper
and then years later learn to process them with modern technology? Pauline loved
shoes, sometimes having the same pair at the office as she did at home. She loved
buttered popcorn; she has been known to bring butter in her purse to put on popcorn
she purchased at events and movies. Pauline loved scarves, and as long as she was
able to go to the beauty salon, she bought one just about every week. She was an
incredible baker and made the best chocolate chip cookies every Monday night. She
was a true Minnesota sports fan, loving her Viking and Twins regardless of their
records. She was strong and she taught her daughters to be strong. Thank you, mom.
She was a good listener; she was loving and kind and would do anything for anyone
and would welcome you into her home without reservation. The only thing Pauline did
not love was cold toast. She would not sit down at the table until everyone had
everything they wanted. Then she made her toast – please don’t ask for anything while
the toast was still warm.
Pauline’s journey with dementia was a long one, especially the last year without Louie.
Through it all, she continued to sing with us and to make us laugh. Although she
couldn’t always tell us what she needed, we know she was listening to us as she often
gave us surprising responses that melted our hearts. Pauline, we miss you more than
you will ever know. We hope you have a beautiful, peaceful Christmas in heaven.
Pauline is survived by her daughters Cindy (Rick) Mueller, Sandy (Jim) Bornetun, Karen
(Cam) Obert, Lisa (Bob) Kocon, and Suzanne (Jon W.) Roy; ten grandchildren and their
significant others; three great-grandchildren; siblings Rosemary (Gerry) Livdahl, Harriett
Underdahl; sister-in-law Jeanne Dufault; brother-in-law Bud Adams.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 70 years, Louie; parents Daniel
and Alice Dufault; siblings & in-laws Lloyd (Lucille) Dufault, Donald Dufault, Kathleen
(Don) Amiot, Bernadette Adams, Yvonne (Pete) Anderson, Arnie Underdahl.

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