Mildred Bradford

Mildred Bradford lived a full and exemplary life in this community to which she was devoted until her passing on Aug. 2, 2022. Visitation will be held at Colonial Funeral Home (809 Butler Blvd., Dimmitt, Texas) on Friday Aug. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the First United Methodist Church (110 SW 3rd St., Dimmitt, Texas) on Saturday Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. with Coby Gilbreth officiating.

Dorothy Mildred Bradford was born in Dimmitt, on March 14, 1921, to Jesse Earl and Grace Lust. Mildred attended Bethel and Flagg community schools and graduated from Dimmitt High School in 1937 and from West Texas State College in 1941. She married James Edward Bradford in 1941, and after his return from service in WWII, they lived and farmed near Flagg and moved into Dimmitt in 1964. They raised five children, and Mildred had 10 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-greatgrandchild.

While her children were in school, Mildred was a mainstay of multiple local organizations. She volunteered with the Dimmitt High School Band, FFA stock shows, banquets and sports teams. She prepared hotdogs for the concession stands at home football and basketball games and fed the basketball teams before they went to playoff games. She and James traveled widely to attend the hundreds of games and other competitions that their children and grandchildren competed in over the years and to serve as chaperones on numerous DHS Band trips.

Mildred also volunteered in her community, including for the Methodist Women, the Hospital Board and Auxiliary, the Rhoads Library and Book Clubs. She supported the Ogallala Quilter’s Society and annually hosted judges for that event in her home. Mildred’s generous community service resulted in her being named Dimmitt Citizen Through the Years. These volunteer activities were all in addition to canning and freezing fresh produce from the farm, raising chickens, and feeding work crews twice a day during harvests. Applying her degree in accounting, she also served as the first bookkeeper for Bradford Farms.

Mildred was an avid traveler, visiting 48 states in the US and at least seven countries, including Canada, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Bermuda, Japan and Costa Rica. After her husband James passed in 1993, Mildred organized (and paid for) family reunions in Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, and Costa Rica, which created cherished memories for her extended family. Everything Mildred did, she did with great integrity and commitment consistent with her principles and the teachings of her faith. She was focused and pragmatic in what she wanted to accomplish and led others by example. At the same time, she was empathetic to those less fortunate, and was generous and kind to all. As an example of her generosity and strong support for education, she provided college funding for several local high school graduates. In important ways, she was a surrogate parent to many of her children’s friends and remained a role model and friend for them throughout their lives.

Mildred was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Grace Lust; her husband, James; her younger sister, Earline Settle; and her younger brother, Lloyd Lust.

She is survived by five children, son, Bob and wife Irene of Charlottesville, Virginia, son, Jack and wife Susie of Dimmitt, son, Kent and wife Barbara of Davis, California, son, Jim and wife Sally of Dimmitt, and daughter, Jean of Amarillo; 10 grandchildren, Jamie Winters, Scott Bradford, Laura Bradford, Sarah Mc-Clure, Ben Bradford, Jesse Bradford, Molly Ward, Wendy Bradford, Paige Whitehead and Claire Whitehead; six great-grandchildren, Kai Mc-Clure, Nathan Camarillo, Mallory Winters, Daphne Winters, Jax Ward and Walker Ward; and one great-great grandchild, Caleb McClure. In addition, she became a loving second mother and grandmother to two foreign exchange students who spent a year in her family, Claudio Bendazzi of Vercelli, Italy and Senia Bendt of McKinney, Texas (formerly from Ebeltoft, Denmark).

Mildred’s family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the staffs of Castro County Nursing and Rehabilitation, Country View Living and Plains Memorial Hospital for the exceptional care that she received in the final years and days of her remarkable life.

As much as she loved flowers, Mildred would have preferred that memorials be given to the organizations she loved the most, the United Methodist Women, Rhoads Memorial Library, Castro County Museum, COHS/Gateway to Health Careers (Attn: Jean Whitehead, 301 S. Polk Suite 740, Amarillo, TX 79101), which is training health care workers across the High Plains, a number of graduates of which provided loving care for Mildred, or to the organization of your choice.