Mildred Jean Plum

Mildred Jean Armstrong Thompson Plum was born July 8, 1932 to Ralph and Lois Armstrong at the family home north of Otis.  She was number 5 of 8 girls.  Mildred left this earth for her eternal home on December 29, 2018.

As a young girl, Mildred lived through the depression and learned to make due and enjoy the simpler things in life.  She attended school in Otis and had many friends.  When the family moved to town the Armstrong house became a gathering place for Mildred and her many friends. 

When a young sailor came home to Yuma in 1949 Mildred was smitten and she and first husband, Jake Thompson were married on July 29, 1950.  Five children were born to this union: Terri, Sonya Jo, Dan, Dennis and Laura.

Mildred loved her work as a nurse’s aide in both Akron and Yuma.  During the many long night hours she took up knitting and many friends and family members still curl up beneath one of the many beautiful afghans she knitted.

 Jake and Mildred and family loved camping and spent as much time as possible exploring wondrous sites in and around Colorado.  Her children remember a time when they had stopped to see some buffalo along the roadside.  Mom, armed with her new movie camera, approached the very sturdy and secure fence to begin taping.  One of the buffalo ran toward the fence and Mom, unwilling to chance the fence’s integrity, threw her camera in the air and headed for the hills as fast as she could run while many onlookers recorded and laughed!  Mildred and Jake also raised and sold purebred cocker spaniels, a labor of love that she was very proud of.  In 1975, Mildred and Jake celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Jake passed away in 1977 after a lengthy battle with cancer. 

Mildred was fortunate to find love again and married John “Pete” Plum on November 27, 1979.  After suffering a stroke in 1997 Mildred retired from many years of working and became an avid gardener and bird watcher.  She was very proud of her roses and lilac bushes in particular.  Many friends and family members still have starts of plants they received from Mildred.  After 37 years of marriage, Pete passed in 2016.

In 2017 Mildred left her lifelong hometown of Otis and moved to Yuma.  After 6 months in an apartment where she made many new friends and reconnected with some old friends, failing health forced another move into the Yuma Life Care Center.  Although it wasn’t a change she wanted, she made the best of everyday and continued to make new friends and enjoy life.  She became very close with many members of the staff there and we’re quite sure bingo will not be the same without her. 

Survivors include her sister Barbara Hassman, son-in-law Don Buss and Betty Jo, daughter Sonya Jo Richardson and Jerry, son Dan Thompson and Denise, son Dennis Thompson and Lee, daughter Laura Thompson-Basler and Dan, 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews and a host of friends.

Mildred was preceded in death by her parents Ralph and Lois Armstrong, husband Jake Thompson, husband Pete Plum, sisters Joyce, Mary Lee, Ruth, Dottie, JoAnne and a still born baby girl, daughter Terri Buss and grandson Greg Thompson. 

A memorial service was held on January 7, 2019 at 10:00 A.M. at the First Presbyterian Church in Otis, Colorado.  Inurnment will follow at a later date in the Otis Cemetery in Otis, Colorado.  Pastor Randy Feather officiated the service and Baucke Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.  Memorials can be sent to the First Presbyterian Church of Otis 181 North Weld Street, Otis, Colorado 80743 or Yuma Life Care Center, 323 West 9th Avenue, Yuma, Colorado 80759.

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