Paulette "Pauli" Irene Wauters Muir

Pauli Muir passed away June 15, 2026, surrounded by her daughters Hattie and Kerry, at Hattie's home in Corvallis, Oregon. Pauli is also survived by her son-in-law J.C. Mersmann and three grandchildren: Joey Mersmann, Maggie Rose Mersmann and Mack Muir-Jeffryes, as well as many wonderful friends who enriched her life. Pauli was born in Lansing, Michigan, the second child of Doris Ida Murison and Anatole (Tony) Wauters, little sister to her brother, John Wauters. Pauli attended public school in Lansing and Birmingham, St. Mary's in the Mountains in Littleton, New Hampshire for high school, and completed two years at Wheaton College before graduating with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she met her future husband, William (Sandy) Muir. They married in 1960 in Dearborne, Michigan, going on to spend their married life in Brooklyn and New Haven before settling down in Berkeley, California where Sandy taught political science at UC Berkeley. The couple were avid Oakland A's fans, enjoyed reading books aloud and listening to classical music, savoring long, meditative road trips when time permitted. Pauli worked as a decorator at The Mug Shop on College Avenue, painting hundreds, if not thousands, of hand-thrown mugs and other pottery. In addition to painting, she loved black-and-white photography, taking to the Sierras with her Hasselblad to create breathtaking photos, many of which she developed herself. Ever the optimist, she loved nature and backpacking, taking great delight in telling stories, filling them out with detail and suspense, and drawing them out for maximum effect-- and relished listening to the stories of others, in equal measure. Anyone who ever listened to Pauli spin a yarn will tell you she was blessed with the gift of gab and a wry sense of humor that enabled her to make friends with people from all walks of life. Her Berkeley home was welcoming and warm, filled with sunlight, fanciful objects, unexpected nooks and crannies, raucous bursts of color, with quotations from literature freely stenciled on walls and over doorways. Her favorite, a two-worder plucked from E.M. Forster's Howard's End, summed Pauli up to a tee her philosophy, reflecting the way she chose made her way through life-- "Only connect." -- Howard's End, E.M. Forster

Paulette "Pauli" Irene Wauters Muir

September 23, 1935 - June 15, 2026