Salem - Mildred America Salter, 93, died Thursday, 1 July in Salem, Oregon. She
was born to William and Maggie (Smith) Perry in Kahoka, Missouri, on 25
February 1917. Her father was a musician and composer, but earned his
living as a carpenter. She had seven brothers and 1 sister. Her
grandfather, James Peverly Smith, who sometimes lived with the family, was a
Union veteran of the Civil War.
Millie¹s family was part of a great migration west in 1925. Thirteen
family members traveled in two old cars to California experiencing 47 flat
tires on the way. They camped out in a tent for the entire journey. The
boys hunted rabbits and squirrels to supplement their food supply. Her
father and two brothers were skilled carpenters, and the family followed the
work to to Colorado, Washington, Montana, and Oregon for the next ten years.
Sometime the family picked crops, and the boys herded sheep.
While living in Salem and working at the Kuebler farm, Millie
married Vernon Salter who worked for Woodry Furniture Company. They bought
an acre of land on the edge of Salem on Vista Avenue and moved into a two
room tarpaper shack with a well and an outhouse. Over the years they
turned the shack into a comfortable home. They had three children, Kay,
Keith, and Karol.
In 1952 they opened Custom Floor Covering . Millie ran the office for
several years until she left to open her own day nursery, Children¹s Corner,
in 1961 in their new home on Church Street. After her retirement in 1976,
Millie and Vernon visited their daughter Karol in New Jersey and their
daughter Kay in England.
Millie, Vernon, and their son, Keith, shared a love of boating and all
served as officers for the Salem Yacht and Boat Club. Millie loved sewing
and crafts and was happiest working with those projects and caring for her
grandchildren, Tia and Nicholas.
After Vernon died in 1992, Millie spent half of her time living in Salem
and half living with her daughter, Kay, in Belgium and in the Netherlands.
During her trips she traveled to California, Arizona, New York, Florida,
Rome, London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. She always thought it was
amazing for a girl born in a tiny town in Missouri to be able to travel so
far.
Suffering from failing eyesight, Millie moved into Kay¹s home in south
Salem in 1996. She lived there until 2008 when she moved to a nursing home.
Millie had a great sense of humor and is remember by everyone for her
one-liners. She never lost that humor. Millie was modest, shy, and
uncomplaining. We will miss you, Mom.
Millie is survived by her children, Kay Salter, Keith Salter, and Karol
Brancato, her grandchildren, Nicholas Brancato and Tia Wilkins, and her
great grandchildren, Kaitilin, Kai, Kutter, and Kennedi Wilkins, and her two
younger brothers, Gordon and Dale Perry of Visalia, CA.
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, 11 July, from 2:oo PM to
5:00 PM at the home of Karol Brancato, 3730 Tunbridge Wells, Salem.
(Liberty Road, east on Madrona one block to Halifax, south on Halifax to
3730 Tunbridge Wells, Park in guest lot). Arrangements are by Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service.