Natchitoches services are set for Wednesday, January 18, 2012 from 1:00 p. m. until 1:45 p. m. in the Natchitoches (formerly Winnfield) Funeral Home Chapel, 318 North Street, Natchitoches, LA 71457. The remains will lie in state at the funeral home from 10:00 a. m. until service time. Burial follows in Lawrence Serenity Sanctum.

Mrs. Mildred T. Vaughn Lewis, an intermittent resident of Natchitoches Parish since the 1940s, died at her home in Marietta, Georgia Sunday morning, January 8, 2012. She died peacefully in her sleep in the presence of her daughter, former CNN Headline News and current Fulton Government Television (FGTV) news anchor Lyn Vaughn and her son-in-law, Wesley S. Vann. She was 89-years-old.
Mildred Elois Tatum was born in Terry, Louisiana—a town named for her maternal ancestors—July 6, 1922—to Essie Terry Tatum and Sylvester Tatum. At the height of the Great Depression, her family made it possible for her to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge. She graduated with the Class of 1944. Mildred Tatum lived and worked in Detroit, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois until she secured her first teaching job at Central High School in Natchitoches Parish.
In July 1950, she married fellow Southern University graduate Alcee Vaughn and the union produced two daughters, Lyndell (Lyn) and Kara Enid. Mildred Vaughn migrated to Los Angeles with the girls in 1961. There, she earned a Master's degree from Loyola Marymount University while teaching English and Social Studies in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She rejoined the Natchitoches Parish School System in the late 1980s, retiring in 2002 at the age of 79. She was a life-time member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Democratic Party.
Mrs. Lewis was the widow of Ezell Lewis of Los Angeles, whom she married in 1974. They enjoyed traveling by car across the U.S. and Canada. Though Mr. Lewis preferred city life and Mrs. Lewis the quiet life of Patrick Road on Cane River Lake, the two spent most holidays together and rarely missed their respective family reunions. Ezell Lewis died in Los Angeles in 2009.
A memorial service for Mrs. Mildred T. Vaughn Lewis will be held in the Chapel at the Natchitoches Funeral Home on North Street, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. A funeral service for Mrs. Lewis was celebrated in Atlanta, Georgia at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on January 14th. She will be taken to her final resting place, the Lawrence Serenity Sanctum in Natchitoches, immediately following the service at Natchitoches Funeral Home.
In addition to daughters Lyndell (Wesley) Vann and Kara Enid Vaughn, Mrs. Lewis is survived by step-daughters Barbara Jean Lewis of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Linda (Wayne) Ewing of Maplewood, New Jersey, first cousin Clifton Shaw of Chicago, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and legions of extended family members, friends, former students and colleagues.
Those who wish to do so may make a memorial contribution in Mrs. Lewis's name to the Sacred Heart Church Building Campaign, 353 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30308.

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