Mildred Stout

11/22/1915 - 09/05/2010

STOUT, Mildred B. (Age 94) Died peacefully at home September 5, 2010, with her family at her side. A resident of Rockwood at Hawthorne Retirement Community in Spokane WA since 1999, she had lived in Pullman for 54 years. She was born November 22, 1915, in Chillicothe MO, the second of four children of Henry and Evelyn Boehner. She met her husband, Kemble A. Stout, at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University), from which they both graduated. They married September 5, 1937, in Chillicothe. During the next five years they lived in Rochester NY, Kirksville MO, Iowa City IA, and Kansas City MO and had three children. In 1945 the family moved to Pullman WA, where Kemble Stout was a professor of music at Washington State College/University for 34 years and department chair for 16. A long-term choir member and Sunday School teacher at Greystone Presbyterian Church, Mildred saw opportunities to put her faith into action. She invited the wives of international students to meet in her home to learn English. She chaired the county Council on Aging and helped found a chapter of FISH, a Christian service organization whose members provided transportation, meal deliveries, and child care. She served as president of United Church Women. She became interested in genealogy and traveled the United States and Europe to research her ancestry, then published several books of family history including the 500-page More Ryan Roots. In the early 1960s Mildred designed a two-story, 16-unit apartment building in Pullman, The Parkview, and the Stouts assumed new responsibilities as property managers. Throughout her mature life, Mildred was interested in politics. She served as president of League of Women Voters and was an activist for progressive causes and candidates. Scarcely a month passed when one of her letters to the editor was not published. She was one of a handful of Pullman residents who recognized the potential of the centrally-located former Pullman High School building. She and Kemble became charter members of Friends of Gladish, the small group of visionaries who arranged the purchase of that building from the school district and oversaw its conversion to Gladish Community and Cultural Center, now a valuable and widely-used community asset and home to many vital programs. For their efforts, the Stouts were declared Community Treasures. Mildred is survived by her children Diana Yates of Portland OR, Christie and son-in-law John Bruntlett of Cheney WA, and Barrett Kindler Stout of Ashland OR; grandchildren Kemble Yates, Brian Yates, Trenton Yates, Catherine Bruntlett, Heather Carlon, Micah Wolf, Sarah Wolf, and Asha Stout; nine great-grandchildren; and twelve nieces and nephews. Her husband, sister, and brothers all predeceased her. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions to Friends of Gladish (c/o Gladish Community and Cultural Center, 115 NW State Street, Pullman WA 99163). A Celebration of her Life will be held Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 4:00 at United Church of Christ, 423 N. 6th Street in Cheney, WA.