Stephen Poulsen
Graduating class: 1938
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2015
Hall of Fame Category: Lifetime Achievement
Stephen Poulsen graduated from Fairhaven High School in 1938. He was a distinguished member of the “Greatest Generation”, who upon graduating from Fairhaven High School and following service in the U.S. Navy, went on to become a dedicated family man, as well as a renowned chemist and food technologist, inventor and successful nationally and internationally known businessman. He and his wife, Dorothy owned and operated Poulsen Consultant Services.
Stephen was in the U.S. navy from 1944-45 and was promoted to Photographer’s Mate Second Class. He was honorably discharged in 1945 as a member of the “Greatest Generation”. He earned the WW11 Victory Medal set and the American Campaign Medal set.
From 1961-1969, Stephen was the owner, President and CEO of C-Rich Fruit Juices in Lowell, MA with branches in Worcester, Albany, NY and Lewiston, Maine. In 1969, Stephen became the Manager of Technical Services at Sun-Maid Raisin in Kingsburg, CA. His work included an extended technical assignment in Afghanistan, where he used microbiology in research to approve raisins for export to the US. I973, Stephen and his wife started Poulsen Consultant Services and maintained that very successful business until 2002.
Stephen was involved in many community programs throughout his life. In 1948-1949 he contributed much of his time and labor to a playground construction project in Riverside, CA. He was an accomplished member of the “Valley Magicians club” and performed for various charities in California. From 1957-1958, he was a volunteer for the Chicago Fire Department. Throughout his life he also served as a guest speaker for the Reedley Rotarians, he served as a volunteer tutor, helping children with reading (the children he tutored called him “grandpa” which he always considered a great honor), he volunteered at the Clovis Medical Center in California and he established the “Senior Literary Group” at the Clovis, CA Community Center to allow people to share their readings and writing interests.
Stephen was also a published author of 2 writings, “Me ‘n’ Grandpa” and “The Literary Excursions of a New England Boy”. Both of these were accepted into the archives of the Millicent Library under the pen name of “Stephen Dudley”. He was a U.S. patent holder (granted 6/5/73) for Sun-Maid Raisin, “Apparatus and method for Monitoring and Recording Fumigant Concentrations in Chamber Fumigation” and he was listed in the Sun-Maid corporate news for this accomplishment.
In 2003, Stephen was honored with a significant granite marker at the center of the Fairhaven High School memorial Park. He was well known for reminding everyone to “take time to smell the roses” and that reminder is engraved on the marker.
In 2006 he earned the Presidential Memorial Certificate honoring the memory of Stephen for his “devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country” signed by President Bush.