Florence Sylvia Milhem

Florence Sylvia Milhem, 91, lost her long heroic battle against Alzheimer's disease on June 30, 2016. She died peacefully with family present at Baylor Hospital in McKinney, Texas. Florence was stylishly theatrical with a good sense of humor. She was always the life of the party. She was a wonderful story teller and gave her daughters a deep appreciation of her childhood in Detroit. Sharing numerous stories about her neighborhood, friends, family and how as a young girl she took a streetcar downtown to take tap dance lessons at the Masonic Temple. As a teenager she was an accomplished jitterbug dancer and teamed up with Danny Thomas's brother, Ronnie Jacobs for exhibitions and contests. While living in Midland, Michigan in the 1980's Florence joined the community theater group and was cast in several plays. Florence spent most of her working career in retail sales at upscale department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Best &Co while living in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles , Chicago and Scottsdale. She started selling cosmetics at J.L. Hudson in Detroit and ended her career briefly in women's wear at Neiman Marcus in Scottsdale before she and her husband moved to McKinney, Texas in 2013 to be close to family. Florence had a special love for her husband and was totally dedicated to the health and welfare of her family. She wasn't what they call a " conventional mom" but not above dressing up in a costume on Halloween. Her personal goals and ambition was well beyond many women of her era. She, in turn, taught and raised her daughters to be strong, hard working and independent. Most important, in her unconventional way she taught them to be themselves and not to worry about what others thought. Florence also had a deep love for animals, especially her mixed breed beagle, Mitzi, who she raised from a pup and was her constant companion even on family vacations. Despite the fact that Mitzi died over 35 years ago she always had a story to tell about her beloved dog. The family would like to express their appreciation to Florence's caregivers, Peggy and Laurie, for their warmth and comfort to our love one during her most challenging days..to the dedicated team of McKinney EMT that treated her with care and dignity whenever we called them for help and finally the wonderful staff at Baylor Hospital's ER and Observation units that went that extra mile to ease the pain of losing a love one. Florence is survived by her husband of 58 years, Charles (Chuck) Milhem, daughters, Janice Milhem and Laurel Watson, son in law, JIM Watson and grandsons, Clayton and Benjamin Watson. In accordance with Florence's wishes, she will be cremated and a Celebration of Life will be held later this summer. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or a charitable organization of choice.