Born July 12, 1930, in Detroit, Michigan, she was the daughter of the late Mabel (Owen) and James Hugh Ward. She met her husband, Lloyd Eugene Mullet, on New Year’s Eve 1953 and they married the same year. They were inseparable throughout their lives together. On November 7, 2022, he was brought into her hospital room in a wheelchair to visit her on their 69th wedding anniversary and he passed away on November 14.
She retired from The Ohio State University-Mansfield as faculty secretary and was very proud that she retired from the State of Ohio with a full pension and almost 33 years of service. She loved OSU and began working at OSU-Mansfield in the early years when it first opened.
She was a strong advocate of women working outside the home and served in the National Secretaries Association to promote professionalism in the field, mentor newcomers and to promote equal pay for women. While serving as President of the Hill City Chapter of the NSA one year, she went on local radio to promote that year’s campaign of “Raises, Not Roses” meaning if you appreciate your secretary, you should give her a raise, not roses.
She was a wonderful wife and mother who did it all. She was a devoted helpmate and companion to her husband of 69 years through business functions and nursing him through illnesses and socializing with family and friends. Her house was always immaculate, there was always a nutritious meal on the table at 6:30 p.m., and she created many beautiful birthdays, Thanksgivings and Christmases.
She enjoyed OSU football and tailgating in Columbus and she and her husband were members of the Pandora ballroom dancing club for years. She was also a longtime member of the Mansfield Women’s Club and was always up for a bridge foursome with her twin sister, Barbara, as her partner, including playing in bridge tournaments.
She also enjoyed gardening, watching nature outside her glass door, loved her pets (Timmy, Fifi, and Maggie) and was kind to animals. When a neighbor’s cat was crying to get inside on a frigidly cold night, she called the neighbor and told her, Tommy, her cat needed to be let inside. When the neighbor said Tommy was an outdoor cat, she said, “Not tonight he’s not!” and the neighbor let him in.
She loved reading and instilled a lifetime love of reading in her children by reading to them at an early age. She came from a theatrical family and as a little girl sang on the radio in Detroit with her twin sister, Barbara. She appreciated the arts and believed in the value of a liberal arts education and encouraged and helped her children achieve that goal. She also was a woman of faith and made sure her children were confirmed in the Episcopal Church.
Keeping in touch with people was important to her and throughout her life, starting as a teenager, she wrote probably hundreds of letters to family and friends. She also kept an extensive, typewritten, personal journal in later years that spanned several years and filled about 10 notebooks.
One of her greatest pleasures in life was a good cup of coffee, especially coffee brewed in her percolator coffee pot. She also enjoyed movies and watching them with her husband was one of their favorite pastimes in later years. She was also a font of family history and genealogy which she passed on to her children.
For several years, her family enjoyed the Four Family Picnic at the Mansfield Police Lodge with family and dear friends: the Eldridges, Deems, and Rigglemans. She also looked forward to and greatly enjoyed the Four-B’s family reunions with her sister Barbara, and brothers Bob and Bill, and especially enjoyed the Caribbean cruise the Four B’s took with their spouses several years ago. And for many years, she and her twin sister celebrated their birthdays together with their spouses with a dinner out at a nice restaurant.
She was a sweet, gentle soul with a reserved demeanor who cared about and genuinely liked people (“Most people are pretty nice”); who was incredibly strong emotionally and could be the iron fist in the velvet glove if necessary.
She is deeply loved and will be greatly missed.
She is survived by two children, David (Paula) Mullet and Beverly (Patrick) Randall; three grandchildren, Paul, Stephen and John Mullet; her twin sister, Barbara Eldridge; two brothers, Robert (Marna) Ward and William (Melinda) Ward; a brother-in-law, Clifford (Fran-deceased) Mullet; many nieces and nephews, including Diane (Ken) Heaberlin, Virginia (David) Harmon, Joyce (Lynn) Riethmiller, Roger (Betsy) Eldridge, Andrew Mullet, Carol Anne (Don-deceased) Vulgamore, Sherri (Scott) Bradbury and Vicki (Jeff) Rush; and many great-nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Lloyd Eugene Mullet; brother-in-law, Ronald Mullet; brother-in-law, Leo Eldridge; nephew, Leo Eldon Eldridge Jr.; and great-nephew, Jonathan Riethmiller.
The family will receive friends from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Thursday, December 22, 2022, at Grace Episcopal Church, 41 Bowman St., Mansfield. The funeral service will be held in the church on Friday, December 23 at 10:00 a.m. with Rev. Joe Ashby officiating. She will be laid to rest in Mansfield Memorial Park. Memorial donations may be made to Grace Episcopal Church.
Special thanks to the wonderful staff at the Primrose Retirement Community and SouthernCare Hospice for their care and support.
The Ontario Home of Wappner Funeral Directors is honored to serve the family.
