Pauline Anne Nielsen Kosanovich
Pauline Anne Nielsen Kosanovich, 84, passed away peacefully on January 18, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The younger daughter of the Reverend Arnold H. Nielsen and Dorah Johnson Nielsen, she was raised in Amherst, Wisconsin. After graduating from high school (where, yes, she was a cheerleader and prom queen), she attended nurses’ training at Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee. As part of that training, she traveled to Chicago where she met a young pathology intern named Michael (“Mike”) Kosanovich. Swearing she knew at once that Mike was the man for her, the two married shortly thereafter in March 1960. After Mike finished his residency at Fort Benning, Georgia, they moved their young family to Chattanooga where they made a happy, wonderful life with their children, Mickey and Wendy, and their many dogs.
Pauline spent the rest of her life in her adopted hometown of Chattanooga, where she made many dear friends. She modeled at Loveman’s, served on the vestry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and served as co-chair of Hunter Museum’s Spectrum. Pauline was known for her spectacular cocktail and dinner parties. In the 1970s, she studied French cooking in Atlanta with Jacques Pepin, after which she promptly knocked out a wall in her kitchen to install a large butcher block island. In her new kitchen, she made her own demi glace, baguettes, pasta, rillettes, meringues, and tarts. Always ready with a martini, a cocktail napkin, and a laugh, she was the one you always wanted to sit next to at a party or the one you wanted to visit when you felt low.
Pauline is survived by her daughter Wendy (Mary Alice) of San Francisco and her grandchildren Nicholas, Eva, and Theo. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Dr. Michael Kosanovich, and her beloved son Mickey.
There will be a celebration of Pauline’s life on April 21, from 1-4 p.m. at The Historic (formerly the Church on Main) at 1601 Rossville Avenue, where Pauline’s daughter Wendy will deliver a eulogy.
In remembrance of Pauline, the family asks any charitable donations be made to Hunter Museum of American Art.