In the 40 years since Mildred Williams first walked into
a kitchen at Eastern Michigan University, food service
at EMU has evolved from three cafeterias that served the
exact same menu to more than 30 food outlets across campus
whipping up everything from stir fry to steamship rounds.
But when students want comfort food, they still head to
Mildred's.
"I'll make a big ol' pot of mac and cheese, and they eat
it up," said Williams, who retired July 6 after a four-decade
career as an EMU cook. "Sometimes, I cook about 40 pounds
of macaroni."
 |
COOK OUT: Mildred Williams, a cook with
Dining
Services for 40 years and her own special
spot,
Mildred's, retired July 6. Williams was well
known for
her comfort food, which included mac and
cheese,
various casseroles and baked chicken. |
Even as Dining Services adapted to meet students' changing
tastes, the department carved out a special spot for Williams,
who can do things with a casserole that will make you call
your mom and tell her you love her. In 2001, they created
a special serving line in The Commons. It's called Mildred's,
and it's where Williams serves up home-style favorites
like macaroni and cheese, baked chicken, mashed potatoes
and scalloped chicken casserole.
"She definitely has a knack for (comfort food)," said
Larry Gates, EMU's dining services director. "As she was
getting ready to retire, we were double checking all the
recipes to make sure we can make them when she's gone."
The quiet warmth of Williams' personality will be tougher
to replicate. A mother and grandmother, she finds joy in
being around young people.
"All kids are a little different but, when you talk to
them and get to know them, they're all really good, really
respectful." she said. "I'm going to miss the people I
work with and the students. I'll miss seeing them and being
around them and talking to them."
She's gone years, however, without missing a day of work
and said the one thing she won't miss in retirement is
her commute. It takes just 20 minutes or so, she said.
But, after 40 years of sun, rain, sleet and snow, she said
she could do without it.
"I suppose I'll sit down and rest a while, and thank God
for letting me travel up and down the road those many years,
and (letting me) have the health to do it," she said.
Dining Services Manager Mollie Newton worked alongside
Williams as a cook 29 years ago, when Newton first came
to work at EMU.
"She was a wonderful example," Newton said. "She taught
us a lot about being cooks and cooking those big quantities.
If you were a single mother used to cooking for your family,
it was much different than what you did at home."
Williams and her husband moved to Michigan from Alabama
in 1968. A sister-in-law working in EMU's Dining Services
suggested Willams apply for a job cooking at what
was then Dining Commons ONE. And Williams has been there
ever since.
When Williams started at EMU, the cooks made everything
from scratch, building enough lasagna — one layer
at a time — to feed 1,200. Nowadays, the lasagna comes
frozen — a blessed convenience for anyone who's ever devoted
an entire day to cooking noodles, minding sauce and layering
ingredients over and over again in 40 pans.
"Those lasagna days weren't anything to play with," said
Newton. "It was a big job and we'd hesitate to do it, but
she (Williams) always came in with a smile and she motivated
us to do it now."
Greg Millard, manager of The Commons, has been Williams'
supervisor for eight years. But 15 years ago, he was an
EMU student, working side-by-side with her in the kitchen.
"She grew up down South and there's a lot of that in
her mentality," Millard said. "It's in that little southern
drawl she's got and the way she deals with people, that
southern hospitality. She's befriended a lot of students
here and, after they graduate, everyone asks, 'How's Mildred?'"
