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MARTY CLEARMildred Padgett, who died at age 86, "was one of the most beautiful people I ever met," says one who knew her best.
Mildred Padgett: 1918-2004
SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - For most women of Mildred Padgett's generation, happiness meant marriage and children and being a homemaker.
Miss Padgett chose a different course. She never married and was one of Tampa's most successful businesswomen. She died May 15 at age 86.
She was ahead of her time, friends said, but Miss Padgett never intended to be a trailblazer. She was just living the way she wanted to live.
"She was one of the most beautiful people I ever met," said Sheri Starks, office manager at Padgett-Swann Machinery, the company Miss Padgett co-owned and operated for almost 40 years. "She never married, but she had a very full life that centered around her business, her friends and her relatives."
Miss Padgett, the second of three children, was born in South Carolina but came to Tampa with her family in the early 1920s when she was a child. In 1925, her father built a house in Seminole Heights. It would be Miss Padgett's home until her death.
"She lived there, in that same house, for nearly 80 years," said Ed Walters, her close friend and longtime business partner.
Along with her older brother, Joseph, and younger brother, Elmer, Miss Padgett attended Hillsborough High School and graduated in 1937. She finished business school three years later and began to build a career as an administrator and office manager for local companies.
In 1956 she joined Padgett-Swann Machinery Co., which her brother Joseph and partner Col. Edmond Swann had started 10 years earlier on Armenia Avenue just north of Swann Avenue (no relation to Col. Swann).
The company specialized in manufacturing and repairing machines used in processing grain and other agricultural products. It also had a full machine shop. In 1964 Joseph Padgett saw an opportunity to expand into the maritime industry and brought in Walters, who had a shipping background, to help with the transition.
By 1975 Col. Swann had retired. Joseph Padgett had open-heart surgery and died three days later. Miss Padgett, who was already a part owner of the company, and Walters became partners.
"We had an equal partnership," Walters said. "She took care of the office and I ran the business. We discussed everything. We had disagreements, but we never argued. Not once. Never."
Miss Padgett's talent as a businesswoman was a key to the company's success, and her outlook on life helped maintain the partnership.
"She led a quiet life, but she loved people," Walters said. "She was religious - she was a Baptist and she taught Sunday school - and she always treated everyone with respect."
The two ran the company, which had more than two dozen employees, until 1991. They helped Padgett-Swann grow and transform into a company that manufactured and repaired propellers and other parts for merchant ships. Padgett-Swann became a force in the industry, working with companies in the Port of Tampa and all over the country, Walters said.
In the late 1980s, the company's lawyer suggested Miss Padgett and Walters consider selling. The new owners would want them to stay on for a few years during the transition, and Miss Padgett was already well into her 70s.
Not long after that, some of Walters' friends expressed interest in buying Padgett-Swann. Padgett and Walters sold their interest but continued to work for the company for the next three years. She left the business at age 76.
Miss Padgett continued to think of her former co-workers and employees as family. She would often bring cookies to the company's main offices, which had moved closer to the Port of Tampa.
In her remaining years, Miss Padgett devoted time to her church, her beloved dogs and cats, and to traveling. She was an active member of the Propeller Club, which provides support for Merchant Marines.
In 2000 she was involved in a serious car accident and broke three ribs. Although her mind remained sharp, she never fully recovered.
"She was lucky she survived, but it was the beginning of her downfall," Walters said. "She just kept declining, declining, declining."
She died of pneumonia.
"She had a good life," Walters said. "I'm going to miss her terribly, no question about it. She was a great lady."