Mildred and her twin sister, Margaret, were born in Chicago, Illinois December 6, 1912. As a teenager, a doctor advised her parents that the family should move to Florida because Mildred’s health was fragile. It must have been a wise move.
They moved to Lakeland, FL where their father worked as a contractor. She graduated from Lakeland High School and then from Florida Southern College in 1935.She began her teaching career in Ft. Myers in 1935 before moving to Jacksonville to begin teaching at Andrew Jackson High School in 1942. She was asked to be the administrative assistant to the superintendent of schools for Duval County and served in that position from 1946 to 1952. She returned to teaching in 1952, deciding that it was her calling and she got her Master’s Degree from Univ. of FL in 1956 and remained a loyal Gator.
When Forrest High School opened in 1959, she became the first business education department chairman. In 1975 she was honored as the outstanding business educator for the state of Florida for her dedicated and creative teaching activities.
She was active in Florida Business Educators Association, Delta Psi Epsilon honorary business fraternity, Phi Kappa Phi, Delta Kappa Gamma and was a lifetime member of her college sorority Alpha Chi Omega. She was very active in Riverside Presbyterian church over the years.
In all of her activities, she was a leader and did more than was expected of her. She is remembered as quiet, dignified and extremely kind with a wiitty sense of humor that often caught people by surprise. She enjoyed music, travel, friends and was a wonderful letter writer and communicator. She was always ready to help anyone who needed her, very generous and always gave thoughtful and completely honest advice.
She never married or had children and is survived by her sister-in-law Guylena Anderson of Largo, FL, niece and nephew and all of their children and grandchildren. She will be missed by many friends and family.
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