Mildred Gomes

Mildred Gladys Baptist Gomes, 100, of Las Vegas, Nevada passed away on Tuesday, September 28th, 2021 at the Tender Loving Care Senior Residence. Mildred was born on June 6th, 1921 to Louis Baptist and Eva Seabury in Oakland, California. She was raised in San Francisco and grew up in the Castro Street and Noe Valley area. She loved school where she always excelled. She attended Douglas Grammar School then went to McKinley where she was president of her class. Then she went to Everett Junior High and Mission High where she again was president of her classes. After graduating from San Jose High in 1939 (where she was also president), she went on to study business management at San Jose State and after two years was planning to attend Stanford University. While she was attending San Jose State she met the love of her life at a Portuguese Community Hall in Santa Clara. In 1939, Mildred started dating Stephen Gomes who took her to her favorite place, the Boardwalk at Santa Cruz. They were smitten with each other and married only 2 years later in 1941. She was a beautiful bride. Her wedding picture was so well received that it remains on display to this day in many of her children’s, grandchildren’s, and great-grandchildren’s homes. Stephen and Mildred settled first in Sunnyvale, CA in 1941 but soon moved to Santa Clara, CA in their first house built by her husband. They had their first child, Stephen Laurence in 1942 (named after his father and her pilot brother Laurence Baptist shot down in Germany in 1944), followed by the twins Douglas and Dennis Charles in 1944, son Ronald James in 1946, and Geoffrey John in 1954. When Mildred had Stephen, she decided to dedicate her life to being a fantastic and wonderful mother. Mildred excelled at supporting her children in school and made sure they all went to college. Stephen L. Gomes received a Ph.D. in International Management from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976 on a NASA doctoral scholarship and has had a long and distinguished international career including being a Vice-President of Airways Engineering in Washington DC, a project manager at Bechtel in San Francisco, a CEO of AmTech in Silicon Valley, and has worked in 104 countries to date. Son, Dennis, became well-known as chief auditor for the Nevada Gaming Control Board for his unearthing the mob’s skimming operations at the major mob-controlled hotels on the Las Vegas Strip in 1975. The books Casino (later made into a movie of the same name) and Hit Me recounted his role in bringing the mob to justice. He went on to become president of 10 different casinos. He eventually purchased the Resorts International Hotel in Atlantic City with his business partner, Morris Bailey. Because of this successful role in all aspects of the gaming business, he was inducted into the National Gaming Hall of Fame. Ronald James Gomes was an attorney with a practice in Estate Planning. Later he entered Harvard where he was awarded a master’s degree in architecture. Toward the end of his career, he switched careers again and served as a webmaster at Nellis Air Force base as an officer in charge of 4,000 Air Force websites. Geoffrey John is owner of Adobe Communications, which he runs with his son, Stephen Gomes. Adobe Communications is a highly respected and thriving business enterprise in Las Vegas. Mildred was also a deeply spiritual seeker. She was able to heal with her special “kahuna” prayers and did so several times with various persons including one of her own children. She was an avid reader of New Age thinking which was spurred by her Baptist family links to Paramahansa Yogananda and the yoga connection with her brother Walt Baptiste. She would often talk to her children about the power of thought to manifest your highest and best purpose in this world. And would instruct them to be aware and conscious about the thoughts that they carried around with them because those thoughts would create their world. Among her many talents, Mildred was also a gifted musician and singer. For years she was one of the lead singers with the Las Vegas Hawaiian Legends Serenaders ukulele band (Madeline Makalina Yamada –Director) which gave free Hawaiian music concerts to homes for the elderly all over Las Vegas. We would always joke that she was older than the people she was serenading. We moved her beloved piano with her to her senior care facility. There even at age 99, she would play her favorite tunes for the pleasure of the residents and staff.

In 1985 her long-beloved husband, Stephen, a naval vet of WWII and an inspiration to all his boys, suddenly departed this world. Mildred stepped up to the plate, sold the family home, and moved to the Lakes where she soon engaged in two of her other passions, gardening and traveling. When she wasn’t filling her home with warmth and kindness, she could be found taking care of her extensive flower garden, homegrown vegetables, and herbs. She was always a walking bundle of sunshine and had words of support and praise for all who were fortunate enough to cross her path.

Her extensive travels included London, Paris (she was very fond of and fluent in French and attended the Sorbonne), Israel, Egypt, Spain, Portugal, the Azores, the Madeira Islands, Ireland and Rome. She constantly told her son Stephen that she wished she could have done much more traveling to experience the grandeur and wonder of the world. And she said that she was so happy that at least one of her children was able to do that.

From 1985 forward, she lived alone in her home as a widow with little outside help. Through the years she made many dear friends that she loved to go hiking with at the Red Rocks area and Mt. Charleston. In mid 2020, at the age of 99, when she finally was no longer able to safely take care of herself and keep up with all her homeowner responsibilities, she reluctantly said goodbye to her cherished home at the Lakes and moved into assisted living where she passed away in her sleep. We will miss her greatly.

Mildred was pre-deceased by her father, Louis Baptist, her mother, Eva Seabury Baptist, her husband, Stephen, her sons Douglas, Dennis, and Ronald, and her grandson Douglas. She is survived by two of her five children Stephen (Dr. Sheila Spain) and Geoffrey (Debra Gomes), daughterin-law Barbara Gomes, nine grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held to honor her memory sometime in the FebruaryMarch 2022 time frame. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Mildred’s name to Doctors’ Without Borders. Cards and letters may be sent to: Stephen Gomes, 20 N. Kokanee Park Court, Hoodsport, WA 98548.