Paula Holt Moseley Wilkinson, was born March 30, 1933 in Warren, Ohio. She was the daughter of the late Maude Mauk & Paul A. Holt. She passed away on October 24, 2022 in Edmond, Oklahoma. Her family moved to Memphis in 1947, and she attended Junior High and graduated from Tech High School.
She married her high school sweetheart, Kenneth Moseley, November 11, 1941, in Hernando, Mississippi, on a school holiday. They were married 15 years, until his death, March 20, 1967.
Along with her parents and first husband, Paula was also preceded in death by her husband James D. Wilkinson, Jr. and stepson, Randy Wilkinson.
In 1972, she met and married her best friend and love of her life James D. Wilkinson, Jr., at Kingsway Christian Church.
Paula has been a member of the Poplar East Optimist Club, where she served as the first woman President, and office that she held twice, along with being Secretary-Treasurer of the Club. She served the Tennessee District as a Lt. Governor twice, and served as First Lady of the Tennessee District in 1982, when her husband served as Governor. She was also a former member of the Curve Optimist Club, which Poplar East club built, and Northeast Optimist Club.
Paula is a member of Piperton United Methodist Church.
Paula has continued to work hard keeping her Tech High class together through the years attending the funerals of as many as possible and calling classmates as often as she found time. She served as Chairman of the Sunshine Committee.
She was a former secretary of Kingsway Christian Church for 11 years and former secretary at First United Methodist Church of Memphis for 17 years. Upon retirement, she worked for Cockrum-Clark Delivery Service at Memphis International Airport. She also worked week-ends at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel, a job she loved.
Paula is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, H. Kenneth Moseley, Jr. and Jane; grandchildren Andrew (Lisa) Moseley, Dustin Moseley and Devin (Cody) Willingham; step-grandchildren Tara (Peter) Levinson, Tiffany (Jacob) Bondurant and Ryan Trotter, and twelve great-grandchildren.
Family and friends will gather at Memphis Funeral Home on Friday, November 4 from three o’clock until seven o’clock in the afternoon. A graveside service will be Saturday, November 5 at two o’clock in the afternoon at Memorial Park Cemetery.
