Mildred Bostick

A Graveside Service will be Wednesday November 1, 2023 at 2PM at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Pleasant Hill, NM.

Jesus was the center of Mildred’s life.

She wanted everyone to know Jesus. She read Bible stories to her children every day. We attended Baptist Churches wherever we lived. Even when traveling we would go to church on Sundays in the town we were visiting. She was always willing to stop whatever she was doing to talk about Jesus or a Bible passage. She loved to sing hymns and pray with her children. During the summer the family had daily Bible study and prayers each morning.

Mildred was born to Gordon and Fay Smith on a farm near Texico, New Mexico. She attended Pleasant Hill Elementary School and High School where she lettered in basketball, softball, and volleyball. She was also in the school plays and could think of no better place to be than at school. Her mind was opened to the world via education. She had dreams of seeing it all. Her senior trip to Palo Duro Canyon outside of Canyon, Texas, was her first trip without her parents. They rode horses down into the canyon and camped outside under the stars.

Mildred graduated high school as valedictorian and enrolled at Eastern New Mexico University for the fall semester studying to become a teacher. She was active in the Baptist Student Union and stayed at a rooming house near the university. Money was tight post WW II so she worked at the Rural Electric Administration in Clovis as a receptionist each summer to earn money for school.

She graduated from college and completed her first year of teaching in Logan, New Mexico. Mildred was the first member of her family to be awarded a college degree (Bachelors of Education).

Mildred married Mack Bostick (whom she had met at Eastern New Mexico University). They honeymooned in the area around Taos, NM. They settled in Carlsbad, New Mexico where Mack had a job in the potash mines and was quickly drafted into the U.S. Army.

Mack was a paratrooper in the 101 Airborne Division and after graduating from basic training was sent to Camp Ft. Roberts, CA for advanced infantry training. Mildred moved there with him where she worked in the Post Exchange. Mack was sent to Nellingen (Stuttgart) Germany after his basic training was completed. She moved back to Clovis to be close to her family as she was pregnant with their first child.

Mildred has always been busy making her world more beautiful. Even when she didn’t have much money, she would create beauty. She would create mosaics out of dyed egg shells, or paint water colors to hang on the wall. She was always hanging wall paper, painting and doing inexpensive things to bring more beauty to her world. She felt that the house was her canvas and would add trompe l’oeil to walls if she felt it was needed. Mildred was a gardener with a green thumb. Some of my earliest memories are of her working in her flower beds. She grew up on a farm and everywhere she went she would grow plants. Like her mother before her. There are pictures of her tending her garden. Often it was roses, but she would find a plant stem and start it growing. Rarely did she not succeed in getting a plant to grow. She kept flowers in the house and you would find her nurturing them and caring for them. I think that is what made the tulips in Holland special for her.

While living in Arizona, all her children were now in school so Mildred started doing what she loved: teaching Junior High students. She taught 7th and 8th grade English and Literature. She arranged for

papers written by her students to be published in the largest newspapers in Arizona every year. She encouraged her students to do exemplary work and then submitted the best examples to the newspapers for publication.

The family moved to Stuttgart, and then moved near Heidelberg, Germany. Almost every weekend the family loaded into the car for a day trip to see something or someplace.

Mildred loved living in Europe. She would plan as many trips as possible for the family to see the museums and cultural/historical sites that Europe provided. Every year there were certain things that remained on the calendar: Holland in the spring for tulips, and a week or two in Interlaken, Switzerland. Mildred took several trips by herself or just Mack and her. She went to Rome, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon by herself. She and Mack went to Paris, Florence, Rome, Venice, Sweden, and London on their own.

We moved to Belgium. Mildred found a house in a small town near France. Her eldest son graduated from high school and was admitted to the University of Maryland, Munich, Germany campus. While in Belgium she began teaching English-as-a-Second Language, and as a substitute teacher at the American High School.

After Belgium she moved to Texas, Southern California and Hawaii and back to California. Mildred passed the California Real Estate License exam.

While living in Southern California, Mildred returned to college and completed a Masters of Education with a specialization in reading at California Lutheran College. She taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Hawaii.

Mildred enjoyed quilt making as it was something that she had done with her mother and grandmother. Every one of her children and grandchildren have at least one quilt made by her.

Mallory is survived by one sister, Koleta Whitaker, and all of her children:

Son, Byrne, and his wife June, son, Hollis, and his wife Jozina (Sonja), daughter, Jill, and her husband Daniel, and son, Lacey, and his wife Leslie.

She is also survived by 5 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.