Mildred Marie Hale

Mildred Marie Hale, 87, of Tolleson died Nov. 9, 2011, in Scottsdale. Mrs. Hale was born Oct. 27, 1924, in Oak Hill, Okla. She moved to Arizona in 1934, and picked cotton through the Great Depression. She was then a dairy farmer in Tolleson with her husband, Norman. The couple purchased five acres and two cows to start their farm in 1946. Their first farmhouse had no indoor plumbing, and drinking water came from an outside well. In the early years, she worked an extra job packing vegetables in Tolleson to keep the farm afloat. She helped found the Donnie Hale Park in the Cashion community of Avondale, and worked to maintain it. She helped convince the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors not to close the park in the 1970s and

often repaired the vandalism and picked up trash. She was recognized by the city of Avondale for her efforts. She was a long-time member of the Arizona Farm Bureau and the United Dairymen of Arizona. She was preceded in death by her husband, Norman. She is survived by four daughters, Norman Jean Ransom of Phoenix, Diane Hawkins of Ontario, Ore., Jacque of Scottsdale and Jennifer Joy Jasmine Ruiz of Addy, Wash.; one son, Mike of Castleford, Idaho; one brother, Kenneth Delozier of Idabel, Okla.; 16 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. A funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Memory Mausoleum and Chapel at Greenwood Memory Lawn, 719 N. 27th Ave. in Phoenix. The Rev. Robert Ruiz will officiate.