Darleen Poulsen

Darleen Kyles Poulsen, 99, passed away on January 21, 2024 at Bonaventure Senior Living in East Wenatchee, WA. Born Lura Darleen Kyles on January 7, 1925 to John and Ethel Kyles in Greenwood, NE, Darleen grew up on a farm with her parents and six older siblings, attending school in Greenwood and Lincoln until she moved to Wenatchee, WA at age 16 to live with her sister Geraldine. She graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1943. Shortly after graduating, Darleen moved to Tacoma, WA to be close to Geraldine, who had relocated, and two other siblings, Harold and Bernadene. There she took her first job, keeping books in the Tacoma shipyards during the World War II ship-building effort. This kick-started a fifty-year-long career as an accountant, working nearly twenty years for the H.A. Briggs Company, followed by several years each with the Johnson & Carr CPA firm and Superior Linen. In 1948, Darleen married Kai Poulsen Jr. They had two children, daughter Joan and son Kai III, and resided in the Edgewood area near Puyallup, WA. Darleen’s favorite pastimes were cooking and bridge. She belonged to a bridge club that met monthly for twenty-five years and included some of the same friends she had originally met while working in the shipyards. She loved to prepare and host Thanksgiving dinner for extended family and friends every year until she reluctantly stepped aside at age 80. In order to be near her daughter and son-in-law, Joan and Gary Mullene, and granddaughter Jillian, who had relocated to Wenatchee the year before, Darleen returned to Wenatchee in 2006. She enjoyed attending her granddaughter’s events at Wenatchee High School, her old alma mater. She continued playing bridge and cultivating new friendships at the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center, the Wenatchee Golf and Country Club, and as a member of several private bridge clubs. Darleen was predeceased by husband Kai Jr., son Kai III, brothers Ben, Kenneth, Watson, and Harold, and sisters Geraldine McCreery and Bernadene Young. She is survived by daughter Joan (Gary), granddaughter Jillian, and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at Hill Funeral Home in Puyallup at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, February 23, with a Celebration of Life to follow in the reception room. Arrangements assisted by Chapel of the Valley in East Wenatchee. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Darleen’s name to the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center at 1312 Maple Street, Wenatchee, WA 98801.

Darleen Poulsen

January 7, 1925 - January 21, 2024