Mildred Ellen (Thurman) Ethington

(written by Todd Ethington, her son)
Mildred Ellen (Thurman) Ethington, my mother, passed away peacefully the 3rd of January 2019. She had been ill off-and-on over the past 2 years, but this time it was more than she could overcome.

She was born on a farm near the town of Defoe in Henry County on September 25, 1929. She attended Pleasureville High School where she graduated valedictorian of the class of 1947. She was accepted to the Kentucky Baptist School of Nursing in Louisville. She graduated, became a Registered Nurse and was the first college graduate in her family. She went on to work at Highlands Baptist Hospital and met Pauline Cornish who was her best friend for sixty-six years until Pauline passed away last February.

She met the love of her life and my father in July 1953 and they were married three months later. They remained happily married for fifty-three years until he passed away in 2006.

She spent her life as a caregiver in her career as a nurse and also to many family members and friends throughout her lifetime.

She enjoyed many things including raising a garden, cooking, playing bingo, watching UK basketball and the Cincinnati Reds. Most of all, she enjoyed loving her grandchildren in any way she could.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Willie and Lucy Thurman, her sisters Evelyn Mitchell, Virginia Clark and Betty Jo Royce, a nephew Keith Royce, and her husband Arthur Wilson Ethington.

She is survived by her one granddaughter, Jordyn Ethington, her six grandsons, Wilson and Wesley Ethington, and Christian, Connor, Caleb and Samuel Clark and me, her son, Todd Ethington (Harolyn).

All of her sisters are gone, but she is survived by her nephews, William Mitchell (Anita), Michael Clark (Becky), and Jerry Ethington (Kathy). A service celebrating Mildred’s life will be held at 1:00 pm Monday at Sholar Funeral Home, 5710 Castle Hwy. in Pleasureville. Visitation will be from 11:00 am Monday until service time.

Memorials are suggested to Hosparus Health or Cedar Lake Lodge.