Paula Furnee

Paula passed away peacefully on December 30, 2024, at Tidewell Hospice House. She is survived by her daughter Kelli Harvey and three grandsons.

Paula was born in Massachusetts on September 9, 1947 and her family moved to Nashua, New Hampshire where she grew up. Her formal education was in private Catholic girls schools from Kindergarten thru High School. She also attended University of New Hampshire. In her younger years, Paula owned and managed a large restaurant in New Hampshire. Later in life she became a kitchen and bath designer. She moved to Winter Haven, Florida with her late husband. In 2018, she met Rich Tilden who became her "significant other/partner". Paula moved to Punta Gorda to live with Rich. She joined the Isles Yacht Club and was active in various groups including book clubs, and kitchen designing committees, and was the Treasurer of the Isle-ettes. She was always physically active and could be seen regularly at the county pool doing aerobics or at the YMCA or walking the Route 41 bridge with neighbor friends. She enjoyed attending all of the Atlanta Braves Spring Training baseball game. She attended the New Life Church in Punta Gorda and subsequently became a member. Paula was an avid reader and a member of three different book clubs located in Winter Haven and Punta Gorda Isles. All of the people who came to know her describe her as the personification of the term "positive mindset". She never met anybody she didn't like and was always positive about anything she attempted....including her fight against cancer. Her constantly positive nature was an example to a great many people! All of us will miss her influence on our lives.