Mildred Elizabeth Tarkington, Summertown, died Sunday, November 24, 1001 at the Life Care Center of Columbia; She was 85. The funeral was held Tuesday, November 26, at 2:00 pm at McDonald Funeral Home in Centerville with Perry Whittaker and Ed Brown officiating. Burial was in the Campground Cemetery in Hickman County. Mrs. Tarkington, daughter of the late Dorsey J and Frances Elizabeth Short Bates, was born July 17, 1917 in Hickman County. She was a homemaker and a member of Summertown United Methodist Church. She is survived by her husband, Richard Tarkington of Summertown; four sons, Malcolm Tarkington of Huntsville, Alabama, Billy Tarkington of Linden, Gary Tarkington of Hohenwald, and Murray Tarkington of Columbia; two daughters, Carol Walker of Hohenwald and Sherry Gore of Columbia; thirteen grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; three special friends, Ed Brown, Wilma Brown, and Angie Salvucci. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Billy Brown Bates and two daughters, Sue Gail Burris and Patricia Ann Curtis.