Hildean Tatum Downs first saw the light of day on Corn Island, a beautiful and picturesque isle nestled in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Nicaragua. She was born on October 25, 1930 to Daniel and Consuelo Tatum. Daniel was a seaman from the Cayman Islands who traveled to Corn Island where he met and married the lovely Consuelo Luzey. Hildean was the eldest of their four daughters. Her siblings were Mearl, Lelita and Louella.
Studious and ambitious, Hildean learned about the newly opened nursing school at Hospital y Clínica Adventista (HCA) in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. She applied, was accepted into the program, and graduated in 1955. Thus began her nursing journey - a journey that would take her from Nicaragua to Honduras and finally to the United States. Hildean had found her calling.
Hildean served as a nurse at her alma mater under the direction of Dr. Fred B. Moor, medical director of HCA. Dr. Moor was her valued mentor and lifelong friend. She then relocated to La Ceiba, Honduras, where she continued her nursing career at the Standard Fruit Company Hospital. In 1963 Hildean traveled to San Francisco, California, under the auspices of the Little Sisters of Mercy. She was always grateful for their assistance in helping her adjust to a new country and a new culture. Southern California beckoned and in 1964, Hildean moved to Los Angeles and started to work at the White Memorial Hospital. Hildean ended her nursing career in 1996 as a public health nurse for the County of Los Angeles.
Family was very important to Hildean. She lovingly took care of her parents, and was a valuable resource to her siblings. She ensured that her sister, Mearl, had the best care until her passing. Hildean, emotionally and financially, supported Lelita when she was a student at Colegio Vocacional de America Central in Costa Rica. She did the same for Luella who attended the University of Montemorelos in Mexico, where she completed a degree in nursing. Hildean helped both sisters immigrate to the United States. She was always a strong supporter of her sisters and their children.
Although Hildean was in the United States, her heart remained on Corn Island with Jacob Downs. Distance was not a barrier to Jacob and Hildean’s friendship. It blossomed into courtship and marriage. On September 27, 1970 Jacob and Hildean promised each other “. . . in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” Hildean and Jacob were committed to those vows until Jacob took his last breath on November 23, 2018.
Jacob and Hildean were very involved in their faith community. They served in the East Los Angeles SDA church, the Rialto SDA church, and their last home church, the Ontario SDA church.
Hildean was predeceased by her parents and Mearl. She leaves to cherish her memory, her sisters, Lelita (José) Tatum-Maderas and Louella Tatum, her nieces, Connie and Andra, her nephews, Randy and Ronald, grandnieces and grandnephews, as well as many cousins and caring friends.
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