Mildred Beryl Gaither was born to Cliffee Lee and Floyd Lee Brown July 10, 1922 in Cleveland, Tennessee. She has one younger sister, Mary Ann Rouse, who currently resides with her husband in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Mildred was a good student and graduated high school in May 1939. She married Jesse Jackson (Jack) McCune on June 1st of that same year. April 12, 1940 their first child, Jill Marie, was born, followed 4 years later by a second child, Edythe Diane. Jack served in the Navy during WWII. The family moved from Cleveland to Chattanooga and resided there for seventeen years. During that time, Chattanooga began broadcasting their first station, a CBS affiliate, WDEF. Without telling anyone, Mildred auditioned her ideas for a children's program, and Chickarooni Land was created. The children of Chattanooga came to know Mildred McCune as "Auntie Mil". The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in January of 1957 where Mildred continued her television career, hosting a children's show with KTHV. The family moved again in 1960 to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she worked as for Blue Cross/Blue Shield as the writer and editor for the company magazine. Mildred and Jack divorced in 1962.

In Tulsa, Mildred met William Gaither III (Bill) at John Knox Presbyterian Church, where Mildred sang in the choir. Bill worked for Sun Oil Company. He was to be transferred to Dallas to become the chief engineer, so he and Mildred were married in 1968 and moved to Big "D". When Bill retired from Sun Oil, the couple divided their time between Canyon Lake, Texas in the wintertime, and Bella Vista, Arkansas in the summertime. During their retirement years they traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad. In the 90's the couple moved back to Tulsa to be near family. Bill died in 1999. Mildred remained in Tulsa living at Town Village and was an enthusiastic member of Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church.

Her last move was to Brookdale Assisted Living Facility where she lived for ten years. Although she suffered from dementia, Mildred never lost her "joie de vivre".

Mildred was preceded in death by her daughter Diane (2002); she is survived by her daughter Jill Moore, granddaughter Pamela Moore, sister Mary Ann Rouse, nephew Bart Slatton and niece Joy Early.

Graveside service will be 10:00 A.M., Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5111 S. Memorial Drive, Tulsa, OK. Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233