Mildred Mae Mitchell will be remembered in a "Celebration of Life" service at Downey First Christian Church. The church is located at 10909 New Street, Downey, CA 90241, and is lead by Senior Pastor David Smith. Services will be held there at 11:30 AM on Saturday, March 5, 2011. Fellow believers will rejoice at her homecoming with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She accepted the Lord in her youth, and she was a member of the choir at North Bellflower Church of Christ before her involvement with Downey. Her Christian spirit of giving and caring for others was displayed throughout her life.Born as Mildred May Weinhold on January 20, 1928 near Roundup, Montana, she was the sixth of seven children. During World War II she traveled to Oakland to live with her brother, "Buck" Wallace, and met Donald Owens Mitchell, whom she married on July 1st, 1945 officiated by the Army base chaplain. After Don's US Army discharge at the end of the war, they returned to Illinois to live and work on the Mitchell family farm. In 1952, they moved to Compton, California with their three children. In 1954 they bought a new house in Downey that became their home until he died of cancer in 2002 and her passing on February 6th, 2011, due to heart failure. They were together for 57 years. Over the years she was involved in several local activities including: her church, caring for ailing family, friends and neighbors, keeping in touch with other senior citizens through concerts and playing cards at the Barbara J. Riley Community Center. She also enjoyed singing, all forms of music, dancing, her dogs, theatre, and cooking. In her younger years she was active with horseback riding, water skiing, camping, and traveling all over the country with Don in their motor home visiting friends and relatives. She operated a childcare service for nearly 20 years and helped raise over a dozen of the neighborhood children, remaining close friends with many of them until her passing. She was an excellent seamstress who made hundreds of dresses, including wedding gowns and formals. She is survived by her daughter, Dr. Donna Lee Grogan, and husband Richard "Pat" Grogan. She is survived by her son, Robert Raymond Mitchell, and wife Arnita Loene Haworth. Their son is Kevin Robert Mitchell and their daughter is Jessica Loene Weis with husband Brian Eugene Weis and their children Mark David and Lisa Catherine. She is survived by her son, David Walter Mitchell, and wife Patricia Ann Scott. Their three children are son Scott David Mitchell and wife Margaret Grant with their daughter Tairis Elizabeth, daughter Heidi Christine Herchelroath and husband Charles, and son Sean Patrick Mitchell, engaged to Talitha Presley. Millie was the last survivor of the Otto and Otillie Weinhold (her parents) family, preceded in death by sisters Leona, Evelyn, and Yetta, and brothers Ed, Wallace, and Otto Jr. She is also survived by in-laws Frances and Paul Kane of Naples, Florida, Earl Osse of Ryegate, Montana, and Evelyn Weinhold of Springfield, Oregon, plus many nephews and nieces. She supported charities for Alzheimer's research, cancer research, heart research and adoption of pets. Mildred is remembered on the Memorial Wall at Rose Hills, Whittier, California.

********** Published: February 24, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 45