Mildred L. Bright

Mildred Lucille Bright – Midge to her family and friends – was born August 12, 1917, on the Iowa farm of her parents, L. Richard and Alice Vargason.

She was a farm girl through and through – pumping well water, cooking on a wood-fired stove, milking the cows, reading by lamplight – until graduation from Maynard High School in 1934. She told some interesting tales from those years, such as the time the horse ferrying her and a brother home from school ran away with them in tow.

Midge moved to town, and after a short stint as a housekeeper, she met Raymond Bright at a dance, an event that changed her life. They wed on Raymond's birthday, November 24, 1937, forming a union that lasted until October 1998 when Raymond passed away. Midge spent those years as a homemaker raising three daughters, first in Waterloo, IA, then in Rock Island, IL, and eventually in Lakewood, CO.

Midge always created the kind of home where her daughters' friends felt welcome. There was usually a dog underfoot and for a while a canary joined the family. Midge didn't care much for cats but she did like birds.

Midge gave her daughters love and taught them right from wrong, the value of a dollar and how to cope with change. She was a Brownie leader, a church deacon and a Sunday school teacher. She helped chaperone a busload of junior-high kids, including one of her daughters, on a once-in-a-lifetime field trip from Rock Island to the nation's capital.

Midge made the 1960s move to Colorado reluctantly because it meant leaving relatives, friends and her activities. She made the best of it, though, because Raymond wanted to head west. Colorado offered the closest job opportunity to Albuquerque, where two of their daughters were then living.

Midge was 96 when she passed away early on November 3, 2013, at Emeritus at Green Mountain. She reached that remarkable age because she was a survivor. She conquered breast cancer, an aortic aneurysm that almost killed her, a severe bout of pancreatitis and several broken bones – all of which resulted in extensive stays in rehab. No wonder that she finally vowed never to go to a hospital again.

Midge met her match with the same affliction that took her husband. It relentlessly stole her memories, her speech and her ability to work crosswords and word searches. Then, it took her life. With that in mind, for those so inclined, the family suggests memorial donations to the Alzheimer's Association or the American Cancer Society.

Midge is loved and will be missed by daughters Marlys Duran, Caryl Bright and Judith Borrowdale; grandchildren Dean and Darin Duran, Denise Barby, Kelley Stoker and Steven Borrowdale; great-grandchildren Corey, Casey and Codey Barby, Laurie Duran and AnnMarie, Nicole and Layla Smith; and great-great-granddaughter Cecilia Barby, who she never got to meet. Also, spouses Lawrence Borrowdale, Gary Barby, Leslie Duran and Amberle Barby.

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