Mildred Colombo transitioned peacefully to eternal life on April 30, 2023.

She was born in Detroit on February 10, 1923, lived on the east side of Detroit (on Baldwin) and graduated from St. Charles Borromeo High School in 1940. Her mother was a very close friend of Blessed Solanus Casey. Mildred was the youngest of eleven children born to John and Anna Tremonti. She had seven children: Harvey (Judy), Nancy (Barry) Emery, Joanne Colombo (Ray Karpinski), David, Ronald, Mary (Randy) Pierce, and Carol (Al) Altier; twelve grandchildren: Heather (Adam)  Fitchpatrick, Mark (Barbara) Colombo, Rhonda (Ben) Sivulka, Nina (David Baird) Dimachki, Stacey (Pete) Mundt, Joseph Colombo (Michael Lanham), Michael (Danielle) Colombo, Raymond (Carla) Muszynski, Louis (Allie) Muszynski, Philip Muszynski and Zedeena Fisher; and ten great grandchildren: Raymond, Arabella, Jack, Kathryn Rose, Elliott and Ethan, Isabel, Madeline, John, and Maeve, along with dozens of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased  by her husband Harvey (1998), son David (2021), and ten brothers and sisters: Marion (Lawrence) Facchinetti, Rose (Bill) Campau, Bob (Phyllis) Tremonti, Marguerite (Bart) Marchese, Phyllis (David) Whitney, Lawrence (Antoinette) Tremonti, Rev. Joseph Tremonti, CSV, Violet (Bill) Tuhonen, Mercedes Tremonti, and Lillian Tremonti.

She married Harvey in 1942 and shortly after bought a home on the west side of Detroit, where they lived for 40 years before moving to an apartment in Dearborn Heights as empty nesters (finally!). Raising seven children in a three-bedroom home on Warwick was challenging; making beds and daily laundry dominated her morning, but she always made time for a midmorning cup of coffee and a call to her sisters. It was not uncommon for her to cook up thirty potato pancakes or 17 pork chops for dinner, which always included a vegetable, a salad and a dessert!

Mildred’s faith played a pivotal role in her life as she and her husband made sacrifices to provide a Catholic education through 12th grade for all their children. She and Harvey were early founding members of St. Suzanne’s Catholic Church, and she was very active in many roles including her years in the Rosary Altar Society.

She was a skilled seamstress and her intricately decorated, multi-tiered wedding and birthday cakes were highly prized. It was not uncommon for she and her husband to spend a full Saturday making 300-400 ravioli! In 1963, her husband took over the Ashley Sign Company where he had worked for 16 years, and she assumed the role of bookkeeping, billing and payroll. For decades they were chaperones for weekly teen-age record parties at their church. As her children grew into their professions, she had time to indulge herself in reading, and her tastes covered multiple genres. Evenings were now spent with a book or settling into a good western or a feature on the Hallmark Movie Channel. She and husband enjoyed cruises and on one, fellow travelers they met were talking about how they had taken their whole family on a particular cruise. That concept defined the later days of their travelling, surrounded by all their children and grandchildren.

Following her husband’s death, Mildred took occasional trips with the Redford “Red Hatters”, accompanied by her daughter Mary. As failing health and mobility took its toll, she moved into Marywood Nursing Center and there recently celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends.

Visitation for Mrs. Colombo will be held on Sunday, May 7th, from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a 6:00 p.m. Rosary Service at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. She will lie in state on Monday, May 8th, from 10:30 a.m. until the time of her Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. at St. Sabina Catholic Church, 25555 Ann Arbor Trail, Dearborn Heights. She will be laid to rest in St. Hedwig Cemetery, Dearborn Heights. 

In lieu of flowers, Mildred has requested donations be made to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and the Solanus Casey Center.