At an early age she married George Hayes and they had two sons. George was tragically killed in WWII. She married Leonard Manion and they had one son. She married Sam Boyd in 1971 and was widowed in 1994.
Her early years were spent helping on the family farm, where she developed an interest in the outdoors and horticulture. Mildred opened a flower shop in Selah in about 1969. She ran a successful business but sold the business in 1972 to be a full-time homemaker and stay- at- home mother to her adopted daughter. In 1969 she began studying the art of Bonsai. She became the expert of Bonsai in our area and in 1981 started the Yakima Valley Bonsai Club. Her Bonsai trees were spotlighted and her work was published in the 1994 Bonsai International magazine. She had several beautiful Bonsai fruit trees that would bear tiny fruit each year. She could always be found pruning, fertilizing, watering, or manipulating the branches to create the most beautiful Bonsai trees. Her yard and garden were always a thing of beauty. She also had a love of horses. For many years she rode with the Backcountry Horsemen. She would return from the rides and describe the most beautiful of places they had discovered that you could only reach on “horseback”. She packed into the backcountry with the group on several occasions. She was in the back country the day Mt. St. Helens erupted. They had no radio or way to know what was happening. She returned home unharmed but a bit shaken as she thought it was the end of the world. Her winter months were filled with oil painting, and she taught a painting class at the senior center. She enjoyed sewing, canning, knitting, rock hunting, and hunting for antiques.
She is survived by her brother, Clay Cameron; children, David E. Hayes, Harold (Dean) Hayes, Robert A. Manion, and adopted daughter, Tricia Robertson; companion, James Rhyno; stepchildren, Dan Boyd, Jim Boyd, Steve Boyd, and Linda Boyd Ketchum; and 17 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by her three cats Midnight, Fubar and Forfu.
The family thanks the staff at Highgate House and Yakima Valley Memorial Hospice for their love and care.
Visitation will be held 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., Friday, August 3, 2012 at Keith & Keith Ninth Avenue Chapel with a funeral service following at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, August 4th also at the chapel. To share a memory of Mildred, please visit www.keithandkeith.com.
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