Mildred Jean Hawkins Hillary of Spring, Texas passed away on Friday, September 20, 2019 with her husband Toney by her side. She was the sixth of seven children born to the late Florzell and Bonetta Hawkins, March 5, 1954, in Hughes, Arkansas and raised in Marianna, Arkansas.

Mildred, better known to family and friends as Jean, began her "Christian journey" at St. John Missionary Baptist Church. She graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1972 and received a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado in 1976.

She met Toney her freshman year at the University of Colorado. He was her Biology teacher's assistant and it was love at first sight. They married in 1977 as college students and began raising a family. Their occupations moved them all over the United States to places like Washington, D.C., Lakeland, Florida, Rancho Cucamonga, California, Lakeland, and Garland, Texas before settling down and retiring in Spring, Texas. She became a member of Anointed Faith Family Church in 2001 where she served in ministry as a deaconess. Mildred is survived by her husband, Toney Hillary, two children, Marcus Hillary and Margaret Alauna Medley, bonus son, Cornell Swain, brother, Florzell Hawkins, Jr., sister, Marilyn "Kaye" Hawkins, uncle, Joe Marshall and three grandchildren, Devon Hillary, Mya Hillary, and Greyson Medley. Mildred was preceded in death by her parents, her two sisters: Margaret Hampton and Mary Pruitt, and her two brothers: Maxie Hawkins and Melvin Hawkins.

Mildred was a wife. She loved her husband very deeply and enjoyed the years she was blessed with to travel and explore the world with him. She was a mother. She loved her children and was very proud of the way that she raised them. She loved her grandchildren and would do anything for them. Mildred was a patriot. During the civil rights movement she participated in protests and sit ins. She wholeheartedly believed in democracy and the United States of America. Most importantly, she was woman after God's own heart. Counseling was not just a profession; it was her gift. Through this gift and allowing God to use her, she touched many lives. From arranging adoptions to leading others to Christ to filling out college applications and numerous other expressions of love, if you knew Mildred Jean Hawkins Hillary, your life was forever changed.

"His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:23)