Mildred Louis Couch Holtzclaw-Medders
Date of birth:	October 29th 1922
Place of birth:	Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia
Death Date:	February 6th 2002
Death Place:	Austell, Cobb County, Georgia
Burial:	Westview Cemetery, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia
Marriage (1) January 2nd 1939 Heflin, Alabama	Carl T. HOLTZCLAW (1915-1977)
Children	1 C. Travis Holtzclaw 1940 2 J. Truman Holtzclaw 1941
Marriage (2) November 15th 1946 Conley, Georgia	Ernest M MEDDERS* (1920-1979) see above link for additional Children
Sources:	A Ancestry.com GEDCOM 1 CJCLDS International Genealogy Index (R) 2 Biography by, R.M. Medders 1/20/2006 3 1930 US Census, Fulton County, Georgia 4 Obituary
Direct Line Paternal Ancestors of Mildred Louise Couch starting with Father;	1 Thomas R Couch 1900 2 Jefferson D Couch 1861 3 James A Couch 1835 4 Elijah W Couch 1812 5 Levi Couch 1791 6 Benjamin Couch 1753 7 James Couch 1730
Direct Line Maternal Ancestors of Mildred Louise Couch starting with Mother;	1 Gaudie M Gray 1903 2 Charles L Gray 1876 3 Thomas J Gray 1848
This page was last updated 02/11/2009
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Mildred Louise Couch, 1922-2002 

¹Mildred Louise COUCH, was born 29^th October 1922 in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia and died 6^th February 2002 in Austell, Cobb County, Georgia. Mildred was the 2^nd child born to Thomas Roy “Ross” COUCH and Gaudie Mae “Gordie” GRAY.

Mildred Louise Couch was the great granddaughter of James Allen COUCH, C.S.A, who was a  Confederate War Soldier who fought and died for the South in Lauderdale, Mississippi.

Birthplace ⁹History-Future

 

Early Life

²Mildred was born during and incredible timeline. She was one of six children who were born to parents that came from very large families their self. Her father Thomas Roy was one of 18 children and her mother Gaudie Mae was one of 13 children. Family reunions required a very large facility when they started due to the amount of folks that showed up. 

The Twenties what a decade, F. Scott Fitzgerald said;

The parties were bigger… the pace was faster, the shows were broader, the buildings were higher, the morals were considered loose… 

Artist musician writer Kevin Rayburn said;

Just being another decade on the timeline was not good enough for the 1920s. When its brief turn came, it had to be the biggest, the loudest, and the brightest. A Calamity gave birth to the 20s and a calamity ended it. With the end of World War I only 13 months prior to, and ending with the Great Depression. It was a decade of giants, like none before or since.

F. Scott Fitzgerald also said about the 20’s;

The changes wrought in the United States in the 1920s were far-reaching and enduring. By the time it ended, the workweek had dropped from 60 to 48 hours. For the first time, the masses considered play as important as work. The weekend family outing and vacation had become things workers expected as a matter of course. We need to get back to spending more time with our families before it’s to late.

A lot of changes happened in the 1920s;

1. From 1920-25 the dress hemlines raced upward from the ankles to the knees.
2. Girls and young women caked makeup on themselves in fashion.
3. Dresses were loose and skimpy; swimsuits were tight and skimpy-the result of both changing   morality and an explosion in new industrially fabricated synthetic materials such as rayon.
4. Workingwomen were more pervasive, and after work they were smoking, drinking, and speaking freely-shocking their Gibson-girl-era mothers.
5. The Condom made its appearance in the 20's.
6. Gangsters and captain of industry consorted freely.
7. Mingling among the classes went on at venues such as boxing and other sports.
8. College and professional sports were booming, and sports stars such as Ruth, Dempsey, Gehrig, Red Grange, Hornsby, Bobby Jones, and Knute Rockne were as highly regarded as presidents.
9. People by the millions were buying cars, radios and other accouterments at a pace that outraced their incomes, thanks to a new and exciting idea called, “The Installment Plan”.
10. Gizmos and Gadgets would make the housewife’s job easier so the ads said at that time.
11. Better living through chemistry meant more junk and canned food to increase leisure time.
12. Pesticides were being used widely for the first time to increase production and make prettier Apples.

Mildred Louise Couch is living in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia on ³April 10^th 1930 with her father and mother and her siblings Allen, Howard and Marguerite. Her father Thomas Roy is shown as a “street car conductor”. Mildred is record on (Page #205, Line28, Household #636).

Mildred married the first time at the very young age of 16 to Carl Thomas HOLTZCLAW (1915-1976) in Heflin, Alabama on January 2^nd 1939. They had two children together Travis and Truman HOLTZCLAW (pictured below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

When 1941 came along, while all the men went off to War, the women went to work. Mildred was one of those women. Mildred was one of only 4 women who were selected by then (Georgia Power Co.) to become a Trolley Car Driver for the City of Atlanta, Fulton County. Georgia. I am sure that her father Thomas Roy had some pull with her getting that job. He himself was also a Trolley Car driver. Her father retired from the Atlanta Transit Authorities after 40 years of service.

Mildred loved new fashions, she always wore the latest styles as shown to the left. This picture was taken in the 40’s. 

Mildred and Carl divorced sometime in the early 40’s. after the War was over, Mildred like all the other workingwomen went back home to take care of the families.  

Mildred met and married Ernest Millard MEDDERS. They married on the November 15^th 1946 in Conley, Georgia. They would have 4 children together (see Ernest M MEDDERS) for children. 

Mildred’s favorite job was of all things, being a waitress. She loved that business. She work many job locations including some of the famous landmarks in Atlanta, “Doby’s Restaurant”, Cookin’ Chicken and many others. She could carry 4 glasses in one hand without touching the rims of the glass.

Many things could be said about Mildred, but there is one that surely fits. She was “HELL’ on Wheels”, “She could wrap a car around a tree or a telephone pole in a heartbeat”! Mildred would have a hard time as a woman driver, many of her accidents causing serious injuries to herself, broken arms, broken legs. She bore most of the scars from the surgeries she had on her arms through out her life.

Mildred and Ernest never divorced, however they were legally separated in 1962 after 16 years of marriage, neither one of them ever married again.

How much can a person endure

The rest of Mildred’s life is really a testament to what the will of a human being can endure in one’s life and still keep a smile on ones face and never be sour about life. Mildred endured more pain and tragedy in her life than most people will ever-even see others endure. She had broken every bone in her body (more than once), suffered a heart-attacked and was burned over 52% of her body. I don’t know what the purpose is for one person to have to suffer so much pain and grief but she did and she never had an ounce of sourness on life. She dealt with the cards that were handed her and she did it with a smile on her face everyday.

1960’s Broken Bones

While most people in their late 30’s and early 40’s were enjoying the fruits of their labors, Mildred was trying to raise 4 children from a “walker.” In 1962 while coming home from work in Little Five Points, Georgia she fell down the steps that led to the apartment she was living in. In doing so she was knock unconscious and was not found till late in the early morning hours. She had broken her leg. This accident would leave her crippled for life. The doctors had even told her she would be lucky if she ever walked on her own again. Many complications arose out of this accident including osteoporosis.

It would take several years before Mildred could prove the doctors wrong, but she did. In 1968, 6 years after having to use a “walker” to get around, Mildred threw her walker out the window. She had got to where she could get around without having to use. During her long wait she had applied to the Atlanta Business College, that was located on Spring Street in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. She was taking course to prepare herself for the day she would be able to work again. After finishing her courses from home, and being able to get around she got a job as a PBX Operator (Switchboard in those days) with a firm in West End, Georgia, this was about 1968. Prior to getting this job, Mildred had a friend that lived next door to her on Hunnicutt Drive in Atlanta, Georgia. Her name was Mrs. Gober, they had become very close. Mrs. Gober was an aged woman who had without Mildred knowing willed her automobile to her on her death.

Mildred moved to Langhorn Drive in West End, Georgia to be close to her new job. She worked there for about 3 years before getting a job at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Fulton County Georgia doing the same job. At this point Mildred was really on her way to recovering. She was really walking pretty much with just a small limp. Piedmont Hospital would become home to Mildred in more ways than she would expect.

1970’s Heart Attack-Fire

In 1970 Mildred suffered her 2^nd crisis, she had a Heart Attack while working for another answering service. She did mange to recover and move on again with her life. It was after recovering from her heart attack that she got the job with Piedmont Hospital. However, only 4 years later she would suffer another setback, the worse crisis of all. While living in the Bolton Apartments on Marietta Boulevard in Atlanta, Georgia, she returned home from Orlando, Florida where she had spent the weekend participating in the graduation of her son Richard M MEDDERS from Naval Boot Camp.

After getting home late about 1:00 a.m. Monday morning she was melting some grease to fry some chicken. She was hungry as she had taken the Greyhound Bus to Orlando instead of driving, she was uncomfortable making the long trip in a car. Unfortunately, while the grease was melting she had set down to rest and fell asleep in the chair. The grease over heated and started a fire in the kitchen. When she awoke, out of instinct, the first thought was to put the fire out, she ran into the kitchen and with out thinking grabbed the hot cast-iron skillet with her bare hand. Of course the pain was so intense that she dropped the skillet, it falling and spilling onto her leg creating even more problems. At this point she dashed for the door. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it. She passed out in  front of the door from either the pain or shock of what had just happen.

Because of it being so late, unlike any other time, the apartment was airtight. There was not a window or door open any where. Mildred had friends next door by the name of Willinghams who heard the windows blow out. Mr. Willingham, not knowing what had happened thought somebody was breaking into her apartment and ran out with a gun only to see the fire in the apartment. He ran to the door and could see her lying on the floor but the door was locked. They had called the fire department, which was on its way. When the fire department arrived they had broken the small pane window that was just over the doorknob hoping to reach in and unlock the door from the inside.

The Fire Department wasn’t unable to unlock the door due to the intense heat that was coming through the broken window. They had to pull the door down using a chain and the fire truck. Once the door was removed they reached in and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the apartment.

Although the fire had never really touched her the damaged that was caused by the intense heat was devastating. She was burned over 52% of her body with the majority of the burns being restricted to her legs, arms and back. Her face thankfully was spared, because she had fallen face down. There was just one small spot on her forehead.

The next 2 years would be the longest and hardest of her life, as she spent the next 18 months in the hospital. She was located the first six months in the Grady Memorial Hospital’s (far left) severe burns unit. After making it through the most critical stages of recovery, she was moved to Piedmont Hospital where she would spend the next year going through massive skin graphs and rehabilitation. Piedmont Hospital was here Mildred was working when she was burned, so she new most of the people there.

Mildred would once again overcome another of Life’s Challenges after a very long trial period. Unlike many people who would have given up after so many set backs, Mildred prevailed. It’ is so easy for people in the world today to turn bitter on life, But there is one thing that can be said for her; “She never had an ounce of bitterness, and played the cards of life that were dealt her and did it with the utmost grace and dignity until the end.” The average person probably would not have lived 28 days after going through the challenges that she did much less 28 years.

Mildred would move on with her life, although never being able to work again, she spent the next 28 years of her life filling the presence of her family.

“ I don’t know what purpose it serves for someone to have to suffer so much pain and tragedy in one’s life except to be here for us as an adult, if so then we as children are very selfish”- Her son Richard M. Medders (I miss you Mom)

Death Place History-Future, The South,  

Mildred Louise Couch Holtzclaw-Medders died on ⁴February 06^th 2002 at the Brain Nursing Home in Austell, Cobb County, Georgia. Her death was classified as “Upper Respiratory Infection”. Her body was cremated.