Mary Louise Mills
March 22, 1921 - December 19, 2023
Obituary
August 22, 1921 – December 19, 2023
Mary Mills lived to be 102 years old; her grandmother lived to be 103. It is remarkable to think about the changes these women saw in their lifetimes!
Mary Mills was born Mary Louise Hill in Seattle in 1921. She had one brother, Claude, who is alive and well at age 90 in Bellingham! She attended Brighton Elementary School and Franklin High School where she was often teased by Fred Hutchinson who called her “Peanut” for her small stature!
Mary met her first husband, Owen Leonard, at a USO function during WWII. They were married at Mt. Baker Presbyterian Church in October, 1943. Because of the war, none of Owen’s family was able to attend the wedding. When the Coast Guard reassigned Owen to a school in New York, Mary hopped a train to join him with a stop in Ohio to meet her new in-laws!
With the war over, Mary and Owen settled in central Ohio where son Ron was born. But Mary soon missed the mountains and the waters of her beloved Pacific Northwest and the family moved back to Seattle in 1949. While Owen went to teaching school, Mary excelled at secretarial work because she was very organized and very efficient! Among the positions she held was one with Bindon and Wright architects. Their offices were located in the Smith Tower which at the time was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River!
In 1955, the family bought their first house which was in Normandy Park. Soon after, son Stuart was born. The family soon became active in John Knox Presbyterian Church.
In 1959, Mary started her own business, Marvel Home Assistants. It began as a babysitting agency employing capable women, but it soon expanded to serve travelers in local motels and hotels. It expanded again to include overnight and multiple day care and finally light housekeeping as well. Mary was truly a pioneer in this endeavor!
In 1968, Owen died suddenly of heart-related causes, and Mary struggled with this loss. Eventually she married Einar Tanner who also died of heart-related causes soon thereafter. Then she met and married Ed Mills. They had a long, happy and productive marriage! Mary often quipped that she had been married for over 50 years – just not to the same person! Mary gained a second family from her union with Ed. She came to know and love John, Cathie and Judy, Ed’s three children and their families.
It is said that one of the reasons Mary may have lived so long was because she was so adaptable. With her marriage to Ed, Mary went from “city girl” to “country girl” spending many hours in their huge garden in Puyallup down on her knees weeding!
When their “farm” got to be too burdensome, Mary and Ed moved into the Judson Park retirement community. True to form, Mary immersed herself in many of the available activities. She became an invaluable asset to the marketing team welcoming prospective residents and leading them on tours of the facilities. She joined the food service committee, and she ran the community store for several years. Now in her 90’s, she organized drives to collect backpacks and funds for other school supplies for a local elementary school. For her efforts, she was recognized as a “Hometown Hero” by a local television station.
Mary is survived by her son Ron Leonard and his wife Pam, her son Stuart Leonard and his wife Stephanie, step-daughter Cathie Olson and her husband Ron, step-daughter Judy Mills and her husband Jim, daughter-in-law Sharon Mills, step-daughter Penny Wykes, step-daughter Marilyn Williams, brother Claude Hill and his wife Faye, grandchildren Courtney Leonard, Shannon Richardson, Mike Mills, Heather Mills, Carrie Olson, and her beloved great-grandson Cedar Owen Richardson, plus many nieces and nephews, all of whom Mary adored!
Mary loved people and was a friend to many throughout her lifetime. Mary will be sorely missed by all who knew her!
In honor of those who provided our mother with such loving care, please direct any donations to the “Judson Park Team Member Appreciation Fund” at the following address:
Judson Park
C/O Sara Taylor
23600 Marine View Drive South
Des Moines, Washington 98198
