Mildred Marion (Collette) King, 98

Published 8:26 am Friday, August 10, 2018

Mildred Marion (Collette) King, 98

Mildred Marion (Collette) King, 98, of Austin, Minnesota, died peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018, at Good Samaritan Society Comforcare.

Mildred was born Nov. 19, 1919, in Verona, North Dakota, to Frank J. Collette and Ida M. (LaFond) Collette. Her mother died in 1927, when Mildred was eight years old. Her father tried to take care of all eight children with housekeepers, but it didn’t work out, so he decided to put them in an orphanage for a short time. By then his oldest, Clarabelle had gotten married, she took in the youngest, Dolly, who was one. The other six children went into the orphanage. Their father visited as often as he could. In the meantime, Frank was involved in a terrible crash and was pronounced dead. He was in the morgue when someone saw his eyelid twitch. It took him a long time to recuperate. In 1929, Frank came and took all the children out of the orphanage, got Dolly, and moved them all to Minneapolis. In 1931, they moved to Austin and Frank got a job at Hormel. Mildred attended Shaw School and Austin High School until she was 17 years old, when Frank asked her to leave school and get a job. Mildred got a job at Hormel in 1936 at the age of 17. She worked a lot of different jobs at Hormel; one was in the hog kill, in which she only lasted one day on that job. In 1937, they began to make Spam, so she started working on the Spam line. She was in the Austin parade for the 80th anniversary of Spam in 2017.

Mildred met her future husband, Richard J. King, on the Spam line at Hormel. They were united in marriage on June 6, 1939, at the priest house at St. Augustine with Father Berg officiating. She started her family in 1940 with a son. In 1942, when she was seven months pregnant with her daughter, she became a stay at home mom. By 1959, she had her last child; she had 10 children.

Mildred was a charter member of St. Edward’s Parish, where she volunteered for over 50 years. She was one of the original church ladies.

As Mildred’s family grew, she expanded her volunteering to include the Blood Mobile, Eagles, American Legion, Sacred Heart Hospice, Comforcare and several other places. Her number one passion was still St. Edward’s. During those years she also became a Girl Scout leader.

Mildred and Richard (who was working at the Milwaukee Railroad) enjoyed taking their 10 kids on long camping vacations. They traveled to 48 of the 50 states.

Survivors include her children, Richard J. (Lori) King II, Rose Creek, Minnesota, Robert King, Austin, Ronald (Teresa) King, Port St. Lucie, Florida, Michele Miller, St. Peter, Minnesota, Marlene (Norman) Blaser, Austin, Roger (Carol) King, West Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Marcie (significant other Brent) King, Lyle, Minnesota; a sister, Dolly (Collette) Lynch, Woodbury, Minnesota; 19 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard J. King (1982); son, Randy King (1963); and daughters, Merrie (King) Johnson (2015) and Maureen (King) Ecklund (2016).

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, at St. Edward’s Catholic Church with Father Jim Steffes officiating. There will be a 5:30 p.m. Eagles Auxiliary Ritual and a 6 p.m. prayer service on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, at Mayer Funeral Home. Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. on Monday at the funeral home and one hour before the service on Tuesday at the church. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Hormel Institute or the Mower County Humane Society. Condolences may be left online at www.mayerfh.com.