Mildred Florine Coombs

Mildred Florine Howard Hechtman Bachich Guillen Coombs, born Oct. 8, 1923 in Lyons, Kansas as the youngest of five Howard children, withdrew from this world Nov. 30, 2015 at the age of 92. Her family moved to California when Mildred was four. She had lifelong fond memories of her childhood following her dairyman father around, riding bareback with her friends, catching frogs and crawdads, and generally being a "tomboy". She graduated from Ione High School at 17 and married William Hechtman of Isleton, California, but lost him in WWII. In 1945 she married George Bachich of Jackson and bore two sons, George Bachich, Jr. in 1946 and Loren John Bachich in 1947. Life on the Bachich ranch produced many fond memories, but also some difficult times, and irreconcilable differences eventually led to her divorce. In 1959, she moved with her two young sons to Glencoe to be near her sister Virginia, who along with her husband Walter provided essential and much appreciated moral and material support during this difficult time. In 1962 she married Frank Guillen of Sutter Creek, who had two sons of his own, George and Wayne Guillen, the same ages as George and John Bachich. Combining these two households of four teenagers naturally generated some strife, but she and Frank held it together and things eventually quieted down as the young ones left the nest. In 1965 Mildred and Frank moved to Southern California where Mildred worked as a clerk-typist for Los Angeles County Probation Department. After Frank's death in 1977 she moved back to Jackson, where she met and in 1979 married C. Edgar Coombs, one of the nicest men she and her sons have ever met. The two lovebirds lived very happily in Ed's home on South Avenue. After Ed's death in 1996 Mildred lived in that same house for the rest of her days. A lifelong knitter, she became locally known as "the hat lady" for the hundreds of knitted caps she made and gave away. Very independent minded, she insisted on living alone. As the frailties of advancing age began to overtake her, she devised ingenious ways of simplifying her life, including preparing her own meals in advance and freezing them so she would need only warm them in her microwave oven. Her freezer was always stocked with several dozen of what she called "TV dinners". Thanks to her determination, John and Callie being available, and the generous assistance of her caring and observant neighbors, Ed and Amber James and Margaret Scheiblein, she was able to live alone right up to the end. She drove herself to the store and did her own shopping, often using the store's shopping carts in lieu of a walker. She enjoyed driving to the airport to pick up George and Linda who occasionally flew in from Napa, and continued this pursuit until just four weeks prior to her death. Mildred is survived by her son George and his wife Linda, her son John and his wife Callie, their two adult daughters, Kristine Boyden (Scott Taylor) and Kati Langford (Mike Langford) and two great grandchildren, Hunter and Hayden Langford, and by numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her four husbands, her sisters Lillian Miller and Virginia Boitano, and by her brothers, Otis and Herbert Howard. Services will be held at Daneri Mortuary on December 4, 2015 at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to the Sutter Amador Hospital Foundation Employee Fund in recognition of the excellent and compassionate care their superlative staff provided her in her final days.