Mildred Collins

MILDRED COLLINS

1921-2016

Mildred Louise Rasco, “Millie” to her friends, was born in Barnard, Missouri on August 10, 1921 to Albert and Mary Bowman Rasco. She married Ralph J. Collins on November 23, 1941, two weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her son, Ronald Keith Collins, was born on July 18, 1943. In 1945, the family moved to Napa, California, where Mildred would live for the next 70 years. She retired from the Napa State Hospital as a Psychiatric Nursing Supervisor after 37 years in civil service. Mildred’s three loves were family, reading, and traveling. She traveled to every continent except Australia and Antarctica, and she kept detailed journals that inspired family members to travel as well. Highlights from her travels included climbing the Great Wall of China, crossing Siberia by train, walking the foot paths to Machu Picchu, flying in a helicopter over Iguazu Falls in South America, and going on safari in Kenya. Mildred was deeply kind, fiercely independent, and she never lost her curiosity for learning. She was an exceptional person and an inspiration to all she met. Her family and friends miss her very much and will always be thankful for the time they spent with her.

Mildred was predeceased by her brother Don Rasco and her sister Golda Thompson. She is survived by her brother Dale Rasco, her sister and brother-in-law, Martha and James Hayden; her son and daughter-in-law, Ronald and Karen Collins; her grandchildren Andrea Sullivan (David Sullivan), Russel Hugh (Jill Hugh), and Patrick Collins (Valerie Clemen); and her great-grandchildren, Alana and Clark Collins.

A memorial gathering will be held on Friday, January 29 at 3 p.m. in the Tulocay Chapel, 411 Coombsville Road, Napa, CA 94559. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mildred Collins Memorial Scholarship Fund, Napa High School, 2475 Jefferson Street, Napa, CA 94558.  Memories and words of sympathy may be shared with the family on-line at www.tulocaycemetery.org.

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