Mildred Hagstrom Rutledge Siewert

Siewert, Mildred H., 90, November 9, 2009.  Arrangements by Found and Sons Lee Funeral Chapel, Manassas, VA.
    Mildred Hagstrom Rutledge Siewert passed away at her home in Manassas, Virginia on Monday, November 9, 2009, at the age of 90.  She was born on April 6, 1919, in Buffalo Springs, Harding County, South Dakota.  Her father, Louis Edwin Hagstrom was the town general storekeeper; and her mother, Addie Myrtle Bell, was the town school teacher.          Mildred received her BA from Black Hills State Teachers College on May 29, 1942.  She taught three years at Spearfish High School and sang with a women’s a cappella quartet in the early 1940s. She met her husband, William Kelly Rutledge, when he was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota; and they were married at the base chapel on October 14, 1944.  They moved to Boston and then to Houlton, Maine where he accepted the positions to start the music program at Houlton High School and become the organist and choir director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  After William’s death in 1956, Mid began her teaching career at St. Mary’s School and then at Houlton High School as an English teacher and class advisor until her retirement in 1979.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Teaching from the University of Maine in Orono in 1970.  She was a former President of the Houlton Teachers Association; and as an officer of the Maine State Teachers Association, attended a National Education Convention in 1977.  She sang in the Choir at St. Mary’s Church in Houlton, was President of the Houlton Council of Catholic Women, and was also a member of the AAUW.  In 1979, Mid moved to Wheaton, Minnesota to care for her step-mother, Florence Hagstrom.  She moved to Denver, Colorado after her marriage to Kendall Emerson Siewert on February 14, 1989.  She and Kendall traveled to Hawaii, Alaska, and the Canadian Rockies, explored the West and Southwest, took a fishing trip to a remote lodge in northwestern Canada, and took many trips back East to visit with her family. In 2000, Kendall and Mid moved to Sundance, Wyoming, close to Mid’s roots in the Black Hills and many friends from her high school and college years.  After Kendall’s death in 2005, Mildred moved to Caton Merchant House in Manassas, Virginia to be near her daughter and son-in-law Margaret and Larry Mayhugh of Nokesville.
    She was predeceased by her infant daughter Mary in 1945.  She is survived by her daughter Margaret Mayhugh of Nokesville, Virginia and her sons William Rutledge of China, Maine and Tucson, Arizona, Robert Rutledge of Bemidji, Minnesota, and David Rutledge of Charlotte, North Carolina and her step-daughters Shirley Siewert and Dana Bromfield both of Denver, Colorado and her step-sons Kent of Littleton, Colorado and Dennis of Denver, Colorado.  Her grandchildren include Shannon Pierce of Winter Park, Florida, Ann-Lynn  Moffett of East Windsor, Connecticut, Bethany Rutledge of Tucson, Arizona, and Carolyn Mills of Tucson, Arizona, Emily Homchuck of Monticello, Maine, Aimee Rutledge of Etna, Maine, Benjamin Rutledge and Taylor Rutledge both of Charlotte, North Carolina, Robert Rutledge of Burnsville, Minnesota and Shawn Rutledge of Bemidji, Minnesota.  Mid is survived by nine loving great-grandchildren.