Pauline E. Oscarson, 72, of Wheeling, a retired nurse, died of complications from pancreatic cancer Wednesday, Sept. 26, in the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights. Ms. Oscarson was born and raised in Minneapolis and was a registered nurse for 51 years. After graduating from the nursing school at Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, she started as a hospital operating room nurse in Los Angeles. She moved to the Chicago area and became director of nursing at Whitehall North Nursing Center in Deerfield. She later worked in Lutheran General Hospital’s Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Park Ridge and was a rehabilitation nurse with A.I.G.’s Rehabilitation Services Inc. in Naperville. She returned to school and received a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago in 1978. Ms. Oscarson was also a nurse at Evanston Hospital and until about a year ago worked part time at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview. Described as a humble woman dedicated to her field, Ms. Oscarson “loved to help other people. If she was not nursing she was pitching in at her church,” said her son, Mark. Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 1133 Pfingsten Rd., Northbrook, followed by a service at 11 a.m.
