Daughter of Cecil Burdette Moon and Myrtle Marjorie Smith.
Mildred, or "Mickey" as she was called, moved about quite a bit in childhood as her father took on various jobs. The family lived on Santa Catalina for a year while her father was part of the crew that paved the first roads on the island. Later, the family homesteaded in the Mojave Desert in Pearblossom, a small town near Palmdale. They subsequently moved back to Cecil's home state of Iowa, settling in Spirit Lake.
Back in Southern California by her late teens, Mickey graduated from Excelsior High School in Norwalk. Norwalk was still a farming community then, and many of her classmates were the children of Japanese-American farmers. Years later, Mickey would recall with sadness the forced internment of her friends during World War II.
Soon after graduation, Mickey met the man who became her husband, Joseph Carl Olsen. Originally from Detroit, Joe was a radar specialist in the Army who was stationed on the West Coast. They married at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Bellflower on August 15, 1942.
Eventually settling in Downey in 1949, Mickey and Joe raised nine children in their home on Sideview Drive: Joseph Carl, Jr. (1944-2015), William Robert "Bob" (1946 - 2002), Marilyn Elizabeth (1950- ), Daniel George (1953- ), Timothy Edward (1954- ), Mary Margaret (1957- ), Brian Matthew (1959- ), Maria Kathleen "Kathy" (1965- ), and John David (1968-2013).
Mickey was a convert to Joe's Catholic religion, and was very active in her parish, St. Marianne de Paredis in Pico Rivera.
Mickey died of internal bleeding of the intestines on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1968. Her youngest child, John, was only three months old at the time of her death.
Mildred, or "Mickey" as she was called, moved about quite a bit in childhood as her father took on various jobs. The family lived on Santa Catalina for a year while her father was part of the crew that paved the first roads on the island. Later, the family homesteaded in the Mojave Desert in Pearblossom, a small town near Palmdale. They subsequently moved back to Cecil's home state of Iowa, settling in Spirit Lake.
Back in Southern California by her late teens, Mickey graduated from Excelsior High School in Norwalk. Norwalk was still a farming community then, and many of her classmates were the children of Japanese-American farmers. Years later, Mickey would recall with sadness the forced internment of her friends during World War II.
Soon after graduation, Mickey met the man who became her husband, Joseph Carl Olsen. Originally from Detroit, Joe was a radar specialist in the Army who was stationed on the West Coast. They married at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Bellflower on August 15, 1942.
Eventually settling in Downey in 1949, Mickey and Joe raised nine children in their home on Sideview Drive: Joseph Carl, Jr. (1944-2015), William Robert "Bob" (1946 - 2002), Marilyn Elizabeth (1950- ), Daniel George (1953- ), Timothy Edward (1954- ), Mary Margaret (1957- ), Brian Matthew (1959- ), Maria Kathleen "Kathy" (1965- ), and John David (1968-2013).
Mickey was a convert to Joe's Catholic religion, and was very active in her parish, St. Marianne de Paredis in Pico Rivera.
Mickey died of internal bleeding of the intestines on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1968. Her youngest child, John, was only three months old at the time of her death.
Daughter of Cecil Burdette Moon and Myrtle Marjorie Smith.
Mildred, or "Mickey" as she was called, moved about quite a bit in childhood as her father took on various jobs. The family lived on Santa Catalina for a year while her father was part of the crew that paved the first roads on the island. Later, the family homesteaded in the Mojave Desert in Pearblossom, a small town near Palmdale. They subsequently moved back to Cecil's home state of Iowa, settling in Spirit Lake.
Back in Southern California by her late teens, Mickey graduated from Excelsior High School in Norwalk. Norwalk was still a farming community then, and many of her classmates were the children of Japanese-American farmers. Years later, Mickey would recall with sadness the forced internment of her friends during World War II.
Soon after graduation, Mickey met the man who became her husband, Joseph Carl Olsen. Originally from Detroit, Joe was a radar specialist in the Army who was stationed on the West Coast. They married at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Bellflower on August 15, 1942.
Eventually settling in Downey in 1949, Mickey and Joe raised nine children in their home on Sideview Drive: Joseph Carl, Jr. (1944-2015), William Robert "Bob" (1946 - 2002), Marilyn Elizabeth (1950- ), Daniel George (1953- ), Timothy Edward (1954- ), Mary Margaret (1957- ), Brian Matthew (1959- ), Maria Kathleen "Kathy" (1965- ), and John David (1968-2013).
Mickey was a convert to Joe's Catholic religion, and was very active in her parish, St. Marianne de Paredis in Pico Rivera.
Mickey died of internal bleeding of the intestines on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1968. Her youngest child, John, was only three months old at the time of her death.
Mildred, or "Mickey" as she was called, moved about quite a bit in childhood as her father took on various jobs. The family lived on Santa Catalina for a year while her father was part of the crew that paved the first roads on the island. Later, the family homesteaded in the Mojave Desert in Pearblossom, a small town near Palmdale. They subsequently moved back to Cecil's home state of Iowa, settling in Spirit Lake.
Back in Southern California by her late teens, Mickey graduated from Excelsior High School in Norwalk. Norwalk was still a farming community then, and many of her classmates were the children of Japanese-American farmers. Years later, Mickey would recall with sadness the forced internment of her friends during World War II.
Soon after graduation, Mickey met the man who became her husband, Joseph Carl Olsen. Originally from Detroit, Joe was a radar specialist in the Army who was stationed on the West Coast. They married at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Bellflower on August 15, 1942.
Eventually settling in Downey in 1949, Mickey and Joe raised nine children in their home on Sideview Drive: Joseph Carl, Jr. (1944-2015), William Robert "Bob" (1946 - 2002), Marilyn Elizabeth (1950- ), Daniel George (1953- ), Timothy Edward (1954- ), Mary Margaret (1957- ), Brian Matthew (1959- ), Maria Kathleen "Kathy" (1965- ), and John David (1968-2013).
Mickey was a convert to Joe's Catholic religion, and was very active in her parish, St. Marianne de Paredis in Pico Rivera.
Mickey died of internal bleeding of the intestines on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1968. Her youngest child, John, was only three months old at the time of her death.
