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Mildred Young, formerly of Chester

Mildred Elva Meier Young, 84, of Perryville, Missouri, formerly of Chester, Illinois, passed away at 2:49 p.m., Sunday, September 10, 2017 at Independence Care Center in Perryville, Missouri.

She was born the fifth of six children to the late Rev. Albert J F Meier and Elva (nee Angelbeck) Meier in New Haven, Missouri on January 13, 1933.

She graduated from St. John Lutheran School in Arnold, Missouri in 1947 and from Crystal City High School in 1951. She earned a registered nursing degree from the Lutheran School of Nursing in St. Louis in 1954 and worked as a visiting nurse for a year.

She married Rev. Kenneth Young on June 17, 1955 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Maplewood, Missouri. They lived in Charleston, S.C., for two years, Chicago for 11 years and suburban Oak Park for 27 years.

Upon retirement in 1995, they moved to Chester for 20 years before moving to Perryville in 2015.

Mildred worked as a hospital staff nurse in Charleston for one year and a staff nurse in Oak Park for three years. Then she worked as a college nurse at Concordia College in River Forest for three years and then one year at Wright College in Chicago.

After that she worked as a visiting nurse for Kimberly Quality Care in Chicago for 10 years.

Beginning in her 40s, Mildred developed impressive skills as an artist and created more than four dozen attractive paintings in watercolor and acrylic.

In Chester, she served as president of the Mississippi Valley Art Guild for a number of years. Some of Mildred's other hobbies included reading and gardening.

Mildred was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Chester. She was very active in church choirs all through her adult life. She was much involved in the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, even served four years as the Missions Project Coordinator for the Northern Illinois District LWML.

Survivors include husband: Rev. Kenneth Young, Perryville; five children: Alice Decker, Chester; Ken (Blanca) Young, Austin, Texas; Stuart (Karen) Young, Lisle; Tom (Rika) Young, Minneapolis, Minn. and Lois (Andrew) Cortell, Montgomery, Ala.

Additional survivors include one brother: Albert Meier, Denham Springs, La.; 10 grandchildren: Nathan Decker, Nicole (Dan) Boeder, Adam Decker, Daniel Young, Christine Young, Kati Young, Alex Young, Sarah Young, Greta Young, and Zoe Cortell; one great-grandchild: Digory Boeder.

Mildred was preceded in death by parents, four siblings - Dorothy Kretzmann, Robert Meier, Velma Altobelli, and Harold Meier - and one son-in-law, Neal Decker.

Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at St. John Lutheran Church in Chester with The Rev. Tim Sims officiating.

Interment will be in St. John Lutheran Cemetery.

Visitation is Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., both at Pechacek-McClure Funeral Home in Chester and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church.

Memorials can be made to St. John Lutheran School – New Facility Fund, St. John Lutheran School and The Lutheran Hour.

To View this obituary and sign the resister book visit www.pmfh.net.