Matilda Elizabeth "Betty" Bradford Milsted died on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. She was born in Ocean Springs to Frederick "Fred" Bradford and Letecia Carver Bradford in 1913.

Mrs. Milsted was Bureau Chief for the Mississippi Press in Ocean Springs for many years. She was a charter member of King's Daughters, a member of St. Paul Methodist Church, first president of the 1699 Historical Society, and a long time member of the Ocean Springs City Museum Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission. She served on the Library Board and Welfare Board of Jackson County.

As a descendant of William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth Colony, she was a member of the Mayflower Society.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph W. Milsted and two sisters, Vertalee Bradford Vancleave and Margaret Bradford Chasteen. Survivors include a daughter, Joey Milsted Rice, son, Bill Milsted and daughter-in-law, Rachel Milsted, grandchildren, Adele Rice Debattista (Louis), Mimi Rice Henken (Victor), Denise Bouler (Justin), Danielle Nutefall (Mike), Ame Milsted, and Nathan Milsted (Mandy), eleven great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild, a sister, Eleanor Bradford Lemon and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers the family has established a memorial fund in her honor at the Ocean Springs Museum of History located at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
(The Sun Herald, July 24, 2009)


Betty Milsted put her heart into community Bradford family has been on Coast about 200 years Betty Milsted s family is deeply rooted in Jackson County, Ocean Springs more specifically. For generations, they have seen the community grow and prosper.

It was those ties to an area she truly loved that gave Milsted a special perspective of Ocean Springs, which she used in her professional life as well as her personal interests. Matilda Elizabeth Betty Bradford Milsted died July 22. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Aug. 4 at St. Paul United Methodist Church on Porter Avenue in Ocean Springs. Bradford-O Keefe is in charge of arrangements.

She was born in 1913 to Frederick Fred Bradford and Letecia Carver Bradford.
The Bradfords, said Milsted s daughter Joey Rice, have been here about 200 years. They have deep roots in the community. Betty was one of four daughters.
They were known as the little Bradford girls, Rice said. I remember her telling me that her mother would dress them all in certain colors.

As an adult, Milsted developed a strong interest in her community and began working in newspapers, first at the Ocean Springs Record and then as Ocean Springs bureau chief for the Mississippi Press.

She became very involved in the town. She was always trying to right some wrong. She was very good with people, her daughter said. She knew everyone and everything that went on in that little Discovery City, said Gary Holland, who worked with her at the Mississippi Press for 15 to 20 years. Not only was she concerned, she was a participant. And she was a truly good person. She was very positive and upbeat about everything.

Milsted and her husband, Joseph W. Milsted, helped build a home for a local family, Rice recalled as an example of her interest in others. She was a charter member of King s Daughters, a service organization which also operated a thrift store. I remember going with her when she would volunteer at the thrift store on Saturdays. It was in an old building on Washington Avenue where Hancock Bank is now, she said.She really reached out to other people in different ways.

Milsted was also interested in Ocean Springs history, serving as first president of the 1699 Historical Society and as a longtime member of the Ocean Springs City Museum Commission and the Historical Preservation Commission. Rice, laughing, said her mother emphatically rose to Ocean Springs defense whenever the issue came up of which settlement was first Biloxi or Ocean Springs.

She also wanted to establish a museum for Ocean Springs. She worked hard for that, and she served on the board up to the time she had to go into care, Rice said. The museum will open in the next six to eight months on the top floor at the Mary C. O Keefe. I m so sorry she won t get to see it. In her spare time, Milsted enjoyed reading, especially mysteries.

She introduced me to Westerns when I was about 11, Rice said. And while her mother had little interest in gardening and other outdoor activities, Rice told of a charming memory.

My father planted a rose garden, and for a number of years, he would plant a new rose every year for her, she said. Her mother s personality is probably her greatest legacy, Rice said. Having somebody so entertained by life is a good standard to live by, she said. She wasn t a bystander. Someone has passed on who truly loved her community. It was a good life.(The Sun Herald, July 29, 2009)

REFERENCES:

The Sun Herald, 'Matilda Elizabeth Bradford Milsted put her heart into Community', July 24, 2009.

The Sun Herald, 'Betty Milsted put her heart into Community', July 29, 2009.