February 13, 2007

Long time Blossom Valley resident passes away at 94

Millie Colson was a seamstress, wife, mother, grandmother,
great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother

By Gina Maren
Special to the Times

Longtime Blossom Valley resident Mildred A. Colson died peacefully at the Saratoga Retirement Community on the morning of Jan. 21 after a long illness. She was 94.

Longtime Blossom Valley resident Mildred "Millie" Colson passed away on Jan. 21 at the age of 94.

Born April 22, 1912 in Rochester, N.Y., she was the only daughter of Italian immigrant parents, she had three brothers.

Her father owned a photography studio in Rochester. As a young woman, “Millie,” as she was known to friends and family, would help develop the pictures and colorize them by hand.

She moved to Blossom Valley in 1973 with her husband and worked as a seamstress and homemaker. Throughout the years, she had various jobs working in alteration rooms and department stores. She was employed by Van Arsdale Fashions, Lee Zabel Dresses, Addie Raymond and Nordstroms.

After developing a huge clientele that followed her wherever she went to work, Colson decided to start her own seamstress business out of her home. She was renowned for the quality of her work and her pleasant, easygoing nature. No one left her house without a care package of her famous cookies.

She especially enjoyed holiday dinners with the whole family, which eventually grew to include her children’s spouses and her grandchildren. Sunday was family day for the Colson’s.

Millie became a resident of the Saratoga Adult Care Center in 1997, following a stroke two years earlier. She was especially fond of the people who made her time there so special.

Married for 48 years to Nicholas Colson until his death in February 1987, Millie is survived by two daughters and two sons and daughters-in-law; Nancy and Guy Robby of Saratoga, Gina Maren of Campbell, Leonard and Mary Colson of Hartford, Conn., and John and Beverly Colson of Rochester, N.Y. Millie also has seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

After a private burial at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose, a celebration of Colson’s life took place at the Saratoga Adult Care Center on Feb. 11. Donations in her memory may be made to the Saratoga Adult Care Center on Allendale Avenue in Saratoga, Calif. 95070, or Hospice of the Valley, 4850 Union Ave., San Jose, 95124.