Millie Malcolm was the hands-down winner for volunteerism at Lutheran Medical Center, giving 40,000 hours in more than 44 years.
“No one has even come close” to that record, said a friend and colleague, Ann Schmidt of Lakewood. “She was remarkable. She had enormous energy.”
Malcolm died Thursday in Lakewood. She was 92.
A celebration of her life is planned at 2 p.m. Feb. 15 at Lakewood Meridian, 185 S. Balsam St., Lakewood.
Malcolm’s volunteering began early. She started a sewing group that made bandages for cancer patients, a project that lasted 19 years. She started volunteering at Lutheran in 1964 and was still doing some volunteering until 2007, Schmidt said.
Malcolm and others in the hospital auxiliary came up with novel ideas for fundraisers. One was a MASH unit they set up on the grounds of the hospital. Visitors paid a fee to come in, dress up and play the roles of the actors in the famous movie and television show.
They engineered movie premieres, such as “Hello Dolly,” and had a rummage sale and ski swap in the “barn,” also on the grounds, Schmidt said. For several years, the women operated a tearoom, serving breakfast and lunch, staffing it entirely with volunteers. Money went for medical equipment and other needs of the hospital.
“She was highly organized and could use her time efficiently,” said her son, Gerald Malcolm of Palmdale, Calif.
She organized her family, too, “and we knew we’d better pay attention” when she announced plans, he said.
She was given the Outstanding Volunteer award at the National Philanthropy Day in Colorado in 1997.
Malcolm also collected dolls and teddy bears, leaving hundreds of each. When she moved to Lakewood Meridian, a senior center, she got a two-bedroom unit so she could use one bedroom for her collections, her son said.
“She was an excellent seamstress” and often made clothes for the dolls, he said.
Mildred Charline Boehme was born on a farm in northeastern Colorado, near Holyoke, on Nov. 1, 1916.
In 1921, she moved with her family to the Arvada area and graduated from Arvada High School. For two years she was the “society editor” of the Arvada Enterprise.
Her son said she married her high school sweetheart, Noble Malcolm, on Aug. 1, 1938. He died in 1991.
She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Sharon Jamison, in 2006. In addition to her son, she is survived by five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to incorrect information provided by the family, the date of Noble Malcolm’s death was incorrect. Malcolm died in 1991.
