Toddene (Watkins) Folgate passed away peacefully on April 27, 2021, at The Seasons Assisted Living in Reno, Nevada.
She was born on January 24, 1942 in Lone Pine, California to Avard Todd Watkins and Lois Marie (Marso) Watkins.
She spent most of her early years growing up in Bishop, California and graduated from Bishop Union High School in 1959.
Her parents owned a chain of five weekly newspapers in Bishop and the Eastern High Sierra area, and from an early age, Toddy became interested in journalism.
She attended the University of Nevada, Reno from 1959 to 1963 and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. While at UNR, she was a member of Sagens, an officer of Gamma Phi Beta and served as the editor of the Sagebrush in 1962 and the business manager in 1963.
She was also honored to be a member of the American Newspaper Study Mission to Europe and the Middle East in 1964.
In her senior year, she met Kent Warren Folgate and they were married June 11, 1965, in Virginia City, Nevada.
They had two daughters, Lisa and Tanya, born in 1966 and 1969, respectively, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Reno.
Toddy and Kent lived in Reno where she wrote for the Associated Press from 1964 to 1966.
After the birth of their first daughter, they lived in Hanford and Oxnard, California, following Kent’s career with Sears, until 1974 when the family moved to Bishop, CA to work in Toddy’s father’s newspaper business.
The Folgate family returned to Nevada in 1978 after purchasing the Sears catalog franchise in Winnemucca. Kent managed the store and did Sears appliance repair work and Toddy worked in the office. In 1985, the Folgates purchased the Park Motel, and in 1986, they opened Park Cinemas, which they owned until 2002.
After selling the movie theater in 2002, Kent and Toddy traveled extensively and had vacation homes both in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico and in Deming, New Mexico.
When Toddy gave up her journalism career to raise her daughters, she began a new “career” as a volunteer for many organizations, putting not only her writing expertise to use, but also her culinary skills and her compassion for people. She was a member and officer of Women for Winnemucca for many years, a member of the Humboldt General Hospital Auxiliary, which included being in charge of 3 yearly blood drives from 1982 until 2020, cooking with residents of Harmony Manor from 1984 to 2000, and volunteering at the Poke and Peek thrift store, as well as being the editor of the auxiliary membership book for over 25 years.
Toddy served as a warden of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Winnemucca and was also a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Deming, New Mexico.
One of her proudest accomplishments was being the editor of the Humboldt Historian from 1978 to 2003, and no one can forget her membership of the BB of A with her dear friends.
Toddy loved a good card game with friends and her pride and joy are her two granddaughters, Madeline and Mackenzie.
Toddene is survived by her daughter Tanya (Tim) Grady, and granddaughters Madeline and Mackenzie Grady of Winnemucca; brother Kerry Watkins and niece Alicia Watkins, and son-in-law Clayton Hahner of Scottsdale, Arizona.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Todd & Loyce Watkins, her husband of 54 years, Kent Folgate, and her daughter Lisa (Folgate) Hahner.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to one of the following entities:
Toddy (Mimi) left a legacy for her family and anyone else who was near and dear to her heart: serve others before yourself, love everyone with an open heart, and forgive all who have wronged you.
We will miss your beautiful smile, your grace and wealth of knowledge, but most of all, we will miss our Mimi who so selflessly gave to us her love and her heart.
