Mildred O. Hughes

Mildred Louise Oliva Hughes was born Christmas Day in 1917, and died peacefully on Christmas Day in 2008. In those 91 years, she lived a full and wonderful life in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley.

Millie and her older sister Dorothy were raised by parents Jim and Leontina "Leona" Oliva. In their childhood, Millie and her sister rode their horses to the Aetna country school, east of Victor She graduated from Stevensville High School, where she played tennis and basketball, and then went on to Kinman Business School in Spokane.

On April 8, 1941 she married the love of her life, Stanley "Mac" Hughes. While he served as an Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, she worked at the Rocky Mountain Lab in Hamilton. During the war, Millie and a group of her friends formed a bridge club that met regularly for lunch and friendship, and they continued to gather for over sixty years. After the war, Millie helped her husband and father establish the Hamilton Bowl, which they operated for 25 years. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Hamilton Golf Club, and her beloved PEO. She enjoyed gardening, bowling, golfing, knitting, cooking, and reading, but more than anything, she enjoyed the time spent with her family. Her husband, Mac, her sons, James (Becki) and Stanley (Cheryl), her eight grandchildren, and her five great-grandchildren, will all cherish the memories of precious times with her. Never hesitating to put others before herself, she opened her heart and taught everyone around her how to love and live life with grace.