Mildred King

Mildred Marion (Collette) King age 98, of Austin, died peacefully, August 5, 2018 at Good Samaritan Society Comforcare. Mildred was born November 19, 1919 in Verona, North Dakota to Frank J. Collette and Ida M. (LaFond) Collette. Her mother died when Mildred was eight years old in 1927. Her father tried to take care of all eight children with housekeepers, it didn’t work out. 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, he was pronounced dead. He was in the morgue and someone saw his eye lid twitch. It took him a long time to recuperate. Two years later in 1929 Frank came and took all the children out of the orphanage and got Dolly. He 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 of age. 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, she only lasted one day on that job. In 1937 they began to make SPAM, so she started working on the SPAM line. (In 2017 she was in the Austin parade for the 80th anniversary of SPAM). Mildred met her future husband on the SPAM line at Hormel. She was united in marriage on June 6, 1939 at the priest house at St. Augustine to Richard J. King with Father Berg officiating. She started her family in 1940 with a son. In 1942 when she was 7 months pregnant with her daughter, she became a stay at home mom. By 1959 she had her last child, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1959 she had 10 children. Mildred is a charter member of St. Edward’s Parish, where she volunteered for over 50 years, she is 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, MN, Robert King, Austin, MN, Ronald (Teresa) King, Port St. Lucie, FL, Michele Miller, St. Peter, MN, Marlene (Norman) Blaser, Austin, MN, Roger (Carol) King, West Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Marcie (Brent significant other) King, Lyle, MN; a sister, Dolly (Collette) Lynch, Woodbury, MN; 19 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Richard J. King (1982); son, Randy King (1963); daughters, Merrie (King) Johnson (2015), Maureen (King) Ecklund (2016). A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 11 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at St. Edward’s Catholic Church with Father Jim Steffes officiating. There will be a 5:30 pm Eagles Auxiliary Ritual and a 6 pm prayer service on Monday at Mayer Funeral Home where friends may call from 4-7 pm and also one hour before the service at the church on Tuesday. 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

Service Information

Cemetery

Calvary Cemetery
4th Drive SW
Austin MN 55912

Visitation

Monday, August 13 2018
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Mayer Funeral Home
600 2nd Street NW
Austin MN 55912

Visitation

Tuesday, August 14 2018
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Saint Edwards Catholic Church
2000 Oakland Ave West
Austin MN 55912

Service

Tuesday, August 14 2018
11:00 AM

Saint Edwards Catholic Church
2000 Oakland Ave West
Austin MN 55912