Casa de Hogar

Founders

Some of the members of the present Board of Directors are alumni of the Casa when it was still in Patzcuaro.They were raised and nurtured by Mr. A.B. DeRoose, Miss Myrtle Paulsen and Miss Elena Santiago Lopez. They have fond memories of their early "foster parents" and are a font of stories about them.

A.B. DeRoose
Mr. DeRoose was said to be gentle but firm with the children. One anecdote about him concerns a young girl, an orphan living in the Casa, who broke a minor rule one day and was chastised by one of the care- givers. She was seen to be crying and walking around with her head bowed. Mr. DeRoose spotted this and pulled her aside, giving her this bit of wisdom. "Never hold your head down in shame for it indicates that you feel you are less worthy than those around you. You broke a rule and you were punished for it but that makes you no less worthy than anyone else.

Myrtle Paulsen
Miss Paulsen, to whom they refer as "Señorita Paulsíto", or simply "Paulsíto", is said to have had superb organizational talents and always knew everything that was going on in the orphanage. Every child looked to her as their mother. At times when the orphanage lacked for food, clothing, medicines or indeed anything, she would gather everyone around and tell them it was time to pray.

Stories abound among alumni about the frequent occurrence of people knocking at the front gate of the Casa just as Miss Paulsen and the group were finishing their prayers. Offerings of the very things that had been prayed for had arrived.