Our loving mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend, Mildred Haycock Vuksinick, age 91, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 19, 2021.

Mildred was born June 27, 1929, in Spring Glen, Utah, to Thomas and Phoebe Bellows Haycock. She was the youngest of 11 children, only eight of which lived to adulthood, and is the last member of her family to pass. Mildred was born and grew up in the family’s two-bedroom home on Haycock Lane in Spring Glen where she was raised along with her four brothers and three sisters. At the time of her birth her mother was age 45 and her father was 49. She graduated from Carbon High in 1948.

Mildred started her life just as the Great Depression began. If you believe her sister Vera, her diapers were repurposed flower sacks, Star Flour brand. Despite her humble beginnings, she had a life filled with love, both given and received, and happiness, which she shared with all. Though she and her oldest sibling were separated by more than two decades, She had close relationships with to all her siblings. Mildred was especially close to her sisters Vera and Dorothy, who were both widowed at a young age. Vera’s son Jeff Jacob and Dorothy’s son James Marshall both lived with Rudy and Mildred at different times.

Because she was the youngest and born late in her parents’ lives, she played a significant role in the care of her parents. For her mother, this included help with the wash and grocery shopping. For her father, this included driving him to Helper for an occasional shot of straight whiskey.

Mildred met her future husband, Rudy, at Spring Glen Junior High, when both were age 14. They went through junior high and high school together. Mildred was popular, a member of the pep club and queen of the Sweetheart Ball. Rudy was a truant. Looking back, after 70 years of marriage, both Mildred and Rudy professed that it was love at first sight. It certainly was for Rudy, and perhaps it was for Mildred, but Mildred was not against going to a movie with another boy if asked. The result was quite a few black eyes, both for Rudy and the other boys. Finally, she decided that she would go to the movies only with Rudy, and they were married on May 13, 1949.

Mildred and Rudy prospered in everyway after their marriage.Rudy worked hard as mechanic for a coal mine and later as a successful self-employed businessman. Mildred also worked hard raising five, healthy children and helping Rudy in his businesses. Even as their family grew they went dancing on Saturday nights, either at the Polka Palace or the Hi-Way Rendezvous, often with Rudy’s parents.

Despite the differences in their family’s respective cultures (her parents were English and railroaders and his were Slovenian and coal miners), she developed a bond with Rudy’s parents as strong as that of her own. To Rudy she was always his “Little Englishman,” but after more than 70 years as a “Vuksinick,” she was equally a “Slovenian.” She joined the Slovenian Lodge, of which she was member for 70 years. She also embraced the Slovenian culture then thriving in Carbon County and that, at the time, still bore the values and influences of Slovenian immigrants who had settled there not so long before.

In about 1956, Mildred and Rudy moved from their abode in Spring Glen, affectionately referred to as the “two-room-shack,” into their new home in Spring Glen. This a significant improvement, as, among other things, the new house had an indoor water closet. She loved the house, she loved the new twin tub, Dexter washing machine in the basement, and she loved the five-wire clothesline in the yard. Very reluctantly, in 1962, she left her home when Rudy’s desire to make a better living for his family meant a move from Spring Glen to Provo.

They eventually bought a new home in Orem which became a gathering place for family and friends for the next 45-plus years, until age and bad health made it impossible to carry on. Even then, the home was frequently visited by family and the many friends who had always been welcome there.

Mildred was petite, but strong, both mentally and physically. She dealt with the hardships inevitable in every life with aplomb, wrangled five children, delivered auto parts in the family business, and survived rheumatic fever as a child and three bouts of breast cancer as an adult.

She was a loving mother and grandmother. Perhaps her greatest strength was a predisposition to love and accept all. She was reserved but cared deeply for her parents, in-laws, siblings, children, in-laws, nephews, nieces, and friends.

She will be missed by all who loved her.

Mildred is survived by children, Tom (Lori), Kurt (Jeana), Albert, Jamie, and Brett (Paul); 12 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.

Mildred was preceded in death by her husband Rudy; grandson, Rudy K. Vuksinick; great-granddaughter, Jayda Bryner; and her brothers and sisters.

A viewing will be held on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, from 5-7:00 p.m. at Berg Mortuary, 500 N. State Street, Orem, Utah. A funeral will be held Friday, February 26, 2021, beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Mitchell Funeral Home, 233 E. Main St, Price, Utah. There will be a viewing one hour prior to the funeral. Burial will be in the Austrian Central Cemetery in Spring Glen. Please wear masks at the viewing and funeral per State Public Health Order 2021-3.