Mildred Rose

In the passing of Mildred “Mille” Rose, the world lost one of its greatest rabble-rousers on February 7, 2014. The fact that her Father was Irish and leaned a little Catholic and her Mother was English and leaned on her laurels, meant that Mildred was predestined to be a “character”. She did the only sensible thing she knew to do and became a Lutheran. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, golfer, bridge-player, and so much more. She wanted life like she wanted her glass of merlot – filled to the brim. Her entire life was filled with bits of rebellion (the good kind) and a great sense of adventure. Following high school, she left Fort Smith for California where she worked odd jobs as a model. In true Rosie the Riveter fashion, she found work at a defense plant that eventually led her to her greatest passion – flying. Mildred became a civilian contracted pilot during WWII, flying needed supplies and planes to military bases across the country. She would happily tell stories of her flying days and remembered the most eagerly awaited shipment she ever delivered was a plane packed down with underwear. Upon landing, she received a hero’s welcome from the servicemen. Mildred didn’t ask questions and flew away never understanding the urgency or cause for the shortage. She lived by the Irish rule that the fewer facts you ask the better story you can create and if anything she was a storyteller. This 95-year old powerhouse left this life having given every bit of energy she could to the practice of living. Among her many adventures, she saw the pyramids in Egypt (where she also took an unfortunate camel ride), touched her hand to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and in Ireland she took her daughter and grandchildren to the country of her father’s birth. She stood at the base of a bridge by a river in County Galway and declared that she was home. She was greeted into heaven by her parents, sister, husband Jack Rose and her children Jack S. Rose and Jan Cromwell. A family of large personalities and even larger laughs, her surviving loved ones are left envisioning the unbelievable level of noise in heaven this week. Her four grandchildren, Crosby and Joe Cash Cromwell, Megan Edwards and Scott Rose will carry her legacy forward and promise to tell stories with a little more flare than they might have had otherwise. Her legacy is found in surviving life’s daily battles with humor. It is discovering you have cooked the Thanksgiving turkey still wrapped in its plastic and choosing to have a glass of wine and dessert instead. This week the world lost a beautiful misfit and heaven gained the life of the party. Mildred’s service will be Tuesday at 10 am at First Lutheran Church with a graveside service following at National Cemetery. Visitation will be at Edwards Funeral Home Monday evening from 5-7 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the First Lutheran Church Building Preservation Fund to help protect the church she loved so dearly. To sign an online guestbook, visit www.edwardsfuneralhome.com