Obituary of Louise A. Hulsey

Louise Anne Hulsey, born in Burlington, Wisconsin, on May 6, 1914, died Sunday, September 9, 2012. A 50-year resident of Santa Barbara, she was 98 years old. Louise spent her childhood in Denver, Colorado. When she finished high school, she came to California to live with her older sister, Lucille. There she met her future husband, Otis M. Hulsey, a kindred spirit, and they were married and moved to Long Beach, California. After working in the oil business for 10 years, Otis was asked to head the Shell Oil Company drilling operations in a jungle area surrounding Casabe, situated in Barrancabermeja, Santander, Colombia, South America. He left in 1944 from the Los Angeles Airport before there was a proper air terminal, and those who saw him off walked with him, over grass and dirt, out to the tarmac where he boarded the plane. Louise would follow in a few months to be the first American woman in that part of the jungle. They practiced their new Spanish language as they coped with huge bugs and snakes, dirty water and food with weevils. They led a slow-paced comfortable life without supermarkets, television and smog. Their friends represented many nationalities, and vacations were spent on paddlewheel river boats plying up and down the Magdalena River or on "Toonerville" trains chugging over mountain passes. They enjoyed the local market places and the sights, sounds and smells of the surrounding countryside. After South America, Shell asked them to go to Iran. They lived in Gachsaran and Tehran during their time in Iran as they learned a new language. It was a kaleidoscope of vast, barren deserts, tremendous dust storms, locust hordes, tribes on the move with dust boiling up behind tent-laden camels and droves of fat-tailed sheep. There were visits to the Khans' felt tents, the taste of spicy, simple foods, and the hospitality of sitting on brilliant Persian carpets with vividly colored bolsters at their backs. It all ended in 1962, after a trip around the world, when they headed home to the U.S. and retirement. They continued their travel to every state in the union prior to settling down in Santa Barbara. Louise leaves her niece and husband, Mickey & Bruce Rehwoldt, niece Janice Sears, nephew John Hock, and sister-in-law Mary Wright Hock. Louise has 14 great nieces and nephews, including Santa Barbara natives Lauri L. King (husband Greg), Lisa L. Wasyluszko (husband Andrew), and Eric B. Rehwoldt (wife Carolyn). Louise also leaves 15 great-great nieces and nephews. There will be a private family service at Thanksgiving. The family is thankful for the caregivers at Abundant Care, Louise's home for the last five years. Donations in her memory may be directed to Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, 222 East Canon Perdido Street, Santa Barbara, CA. 93101.