Paula Anne Soltis

It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our sister, Paula Anne Soltis. She was born on Feb. 21, 1955, to Pauline (Vinci) and John J. Soltis of Bristol.

Paula was a 1973 graduate of Bristol Eastern High School and attended Eli Whitney Technical School in Hamden where she excelled in their dental lab technician program. She went on to work at Wilcox Dental Lab in Wethersfield and Precision Dental Lab in Hartford. In 1995, she went to work at CT Radio in Rocky Hill, where she worked up until her retirement in 2022.

She leaves behind her sister Marilou and her husband Dale Thorp of Osprey, Fla., and Farmington, her brother John Michael and his wife Lynn of Bristol, and her nephews Connor and his wife Rebecca of Plantsville, Cameron of Tampa, Fla., and Parker and his fiancée Nicole of West Hartford.

Anyone who knew Paula would agree that she had the biggest, most generous heart. She loved to shop and was a collector of many things, most notably, her over 400 Barbie dolls and anything Hallmark or M&M’s. She loved her dancing solar characters and displayed them in her kitchen window for every holiday. Paula was very creative and a master of painting the tiniest details. You might have been the lucky person to find one of her painted rocks secretly placed around Norton Park in Plainville. She also had a unique skill of being able to fix the most delicate things with Krazy Glue.

Paula had a special way with creatures of nature, saving injured birds and making friends with the “chippermunks” outside the door at work. She loved her yellow-naped Amazon parrot, Beaumont, and often brought him to family events. Paula had a very special relationship with the Clayton family of Bristol (Tom, Carol, Sabrina, Aunty Gee) and loved spending time with them down at Hawk’s Nest Beach every October. She was a passionate Dallas Cowboy fan thanks to her brother. She had many wonderful friends and extended family that sent numerous cards to express their love and support during her illness.

Thank you to Tom Clayton for adopting and loving Beaumont, thank you to Carol and Sabrina for the numerous things they did to show their love for Paula even before her illness, and thank you to lifelong friends Kris Durante, Michelle Boucher and Julie Doolittle and goddaughter Jessica Boisvert for their unwavering loyalty, love, kindness and support. We would also like to thank the many nurses, aids, PT and OT staff at Apple Rehab in Plainville who cared for her with love and compassion and became her friends and family.

Family and friends are welcome to gather in celebration of Paula’s life on Tuesday, Nov. 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Plainville Funeral Home, 81 Broad St., Plainville. Prayers and words of remembrance led by life celebrant Jesse Gnazzo will be shared at 7 p.m. Burial will be held privately.

To help spread awareness to breast cancer and to honor Paula’s courageous battle, donations in her memory may be made to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, PO Box 676910, Dallas, TX 75267-6910 (www.nationalbreastcancer.org). For more information or to leave online expressions of sympathy, please visit www.PlainvilleFuneralHome.com.

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