Mildred Floyd

Mildred Étoile (Hemsted) Summerfield Floyd.

" Millie " was born July 27, 1914 in Redding, California, to pioneer parents Karl and Lillian Hemsted, in sparse but simple times. Life was harsh on the ranch when in those days many had only an outhouse, a light bulb over the wood stove and sink, no telephones, no air conditioning during those very hot summers, and eventually a car one had to crank to get started. And yes, she was one of the many who walked 8 miles to school with cardboard on the soles of her shoes.

Her early life experiences seemed to create a fiercely independent, strong-willed, brave, wise, proud, adventurous woman, who left home at 18 to live most of her life in San Francisco and later Marin county. She had 4 brothers, Donald her twin, middle brother, Jim and nine years later her favorite baby twin brothers, Richard (Dick) and Robert (Bob). These two boys immediately gave her purpose and they shared a deep friendship throughout their lives. In the early years before Dick was a rodeo producer and stock contractor, he ran the stable concessions at Lassen National Park. She was a trail guide in the summer months and loved to later tell stories of leading strings of colts alone through the mountains and taking "dude" riders out on the trail. Her nickname, “Big Red”, led those innocents to believe she was a big strong wrangler instead of a petite red headed female! (Both her daughters, later worked at the park, so they, too, could have great experiences as well.) Dick's twin, Bob, became a captain for TWA and through the years she visited him in various places of the world. Once while he was living in the Bahamas, they sailed his Chinese Junk throughout the Caribbean experiencing some wild adventures on the high seas. Another year they camped for 5 days on an uninhibited island in Alaska. Her fondest memoirs were of all the times she shared with those two "boys" when they were young and later in life.

In the late 1930s she married George Summerfield, and they had two girls, Judy and Jan. Millie lived through many eras of historical significance and was a product of the Great Depression, which formed a lifelong habit of being frugal and practical. She took her children back to Redding for family visits where they learned the values of country life with livestock, pastures, open spaces, and time with their grandparents on the ranch. This was a wonderful balance for girls who grew up in the city. She took Jan camping in Yosemite every year of Jan's life from age six months until adulthood. She taught Jan to swim in the Merced and Millie was always first to swim across the river the beginning of each summer below the Sugar Pine bridge. This was during "Fire Fall" times and every night ended with the beautiful ribbon of orange and yellow embers spilling over Glacier Point. In later years, it was Jan who took Millie camping and she was amazed at how her ways of making camp were replicated. Millie was quite proud of her influence. This became a family tradition, with grand kids enjoying some of the same experiences later on.

When daughter Judy became a flight attendant this provided Millie the opportunity to begin traveling the world. She was so proud of Judy and after they traveled to Europe together, Millie was hooked. She then traveled solo in the late 1950's and early 60's to far off places without tours, or guides, to visit India, Thailand, Great Britain, and Egypt. With her adventurous spirit she ballooned across the Serengeti, mingled with penguins at Cape Horn, visited friends in India, cruised the Rhine, hiked a private path to the Acropolis, toured Yugoslavia, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Asia, rode the Orient Express and visited the Scandinavian countries and fjords to name a few. With each trip she had fabulous stories and adventures to tell. She seized any opportunity to travel and experience it to the fullest. While in Israel, she learned to scuba dive in the Red Sea. She pursued this interest and dove in the fabulous waters of Truk Lagoon, Palau, Micronesian Islands, Bahamas, Abaco Sound, Grenada, and Jamaica. She enjoyed many other dives in the Caribbean, Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef, Cozumel, and Baja, Mexico, where she had a lifelong friend she visited often. She was the president of her dive club in San Francisco and many a weekend she would pile into a van with her "buddies" and head out for a weekend dive for abalone or recreational diving. Often Jan came home to find starfish drying in the oven or being embalmed in a bucket in the backyard. Embalming fluid? Yes provided by her funeral director husband, George.

During summers when the kids weren't in school, she encouraged family trips around the United States. Routinely there had to be a stop for snacks of sardine sandwiches or dry salami, cheese and crackers by a stream. She never missed an opportunity to take a dip in a river or a lake, wade in a creek, a ritual she started early in life, living alongside the Sacramento River. Ice cold water never deterred her.

In the late 50s Millie became a shoe model. Having a size 4b foot, which was, at that time, a sample shoe size, she modeled in all the fine department stores in San Francisco; I. Magnin, City of Paris, Ransohoff's, among others. This vocation provided her daughter Jan a different pair of shoes to wear each day to school for as long as her feet would fit those size 4's. Of course, she was the envy of every girl in the sixth grade! During this modeling profession, she also began a long career with the San Francisco Visitors and Convention Bureau. Many of the conventions were held in the elegant S. F. hotels such as the Fairmont, the Sheraton Palace, the St. Francis to name a few. She and George eventually divorced after 29 years of marriage. Millie went on to work for the Board of Education and then retired after 10 years at Juvenile Courts of San Francisco.

When her daughter Jan moved to Fresno, she sold her city house and moved to Marin County where she resided at her beloved condo on the water for 30 years. During those times she took her treasured safari to Africa, a train trip to Copper Canyon, cruised the Columbia River and Gorge, traveled throughout New England, went mule packing with Jan to the high Sierras and continued scuba diving into her 80's. During her Octogenarian years she river rafted with her grandchildren, salmon fished off S.F. with friends, rode horses at Sequoia Big Meadows (at 92,) rode her bike to the library, post office or across the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoyed symphonies, and visited friends in the city. She loved read, do jigsaw puzzles, and poured over maps for hours at a time, reliving all the places she saw in the world remembering the smallest detail of each. She continued to take trips and also volunteered at Marin Art and Garden Center until her move to Fresno in 2006, when she broke a hip while visiting.

Within months of moving closer to daughter Jan in Fresno, she met Robert Floyd, whom she married a year later at the age of 93. This marriage lasted 4 years until his death. They did enjoy a honeymoon in Tahiti, a place she had not yet visited.

She has survived 3 major car accidents, life altering falls, including her broken hip, severe skin cancers, always resilient, bouncing back and fully recovering, never to use a cane, walker, or wheelchair until the last five months of her life. It is believed she truly had a guardian angel. She was a survivor, a force to be reckoned with, a person who, when down, always got back up and stood on her own two feet, and held her head up high. She was the epitome of health and loved nutritious food, was an advocate of drinking 'just plain water', and always looked at least 20 years younger than she was. Never having to color her hair, it changed naturally from "Irish Setter” red to “Golden Retriever” blonde!

Millie left an impression in this world. She made a difference because she set an example of being an independent woman before her time. She was loved by so many: nieces and nephews, brothers, cousins, friends, and neighbors. She endured the loss of many of her dearest friends, and her daughter, Judy, in 2003, who all died prematurely in life. She had such an appreciation for the beauty around her and always pointed out a sunset, the color of the sky, the shape of a cloud, the height of a tree. A reminder to us all to look up, look around and notice the beauty that surrounds us.

On March 14, 2013, at the end of her life, and her few hours left on earth, Millie was enveloped in prayer by caring ministers of faith. She took her last breath at the end of the Lord's Prayer, spoken by Jan and best friend and "other daughter", Carrie. The family now has peace knowing that Jesus took her hand, with her freshly painted nails having been manicured the day before, and led her to the gates of heaven. She was with the two people who loved and cared for her most, a plan perfectly orchestrated by God.

Millie is survived by her grandson Bill Hess of Simi Valley, her birthday gift in 1968, his wife Sandra, great grandchildren Diego and Dante, her granddaughter Karen Martin, of Saugus, husband Scott and the continued family tradition of twins, great grandchildren, Roland and Rain, her daughter Jan Mikkelson, husband John, nieces and nephews, sister in laws, and her precious dog Mini Cooper.

Her daughter Judy and her four brothers precede her in death.

Jan would sincerely like to thank the Fresno Heart Hospital nurses and staff who showed such compassion, kindness and support in the final hours of Millie's life and Dr. Cyrus Moon, who followed through to the end with his continued communication and genuine kindness.

We want to thank the caregivers at Sunrise Assisted Living Reminiscent Care who were tireless in their efforts to keep Millie comfortable, safe, dressed so nicely, feeling loved and at home.

We want to thank all caregivers, hospice workers, elder care specialists known and unknown and the job they perform for the safety and comfort of their charges. It is many times a position that goes unrecognized and unappreciated. If it weren't for these people who give this special support to those in need families could not get through some of the most difficult moments of eldercare and memory care.

And, as we know but often take for granted, it is so important to tell those you hold close you love them, for when you watch your loved one take their last breath, you can never tell them again.

Private services will be planned for Millie.