Obituary of Wendellyn T. Mills

Services were held for Wendellyn T. Mills, who died peacefully in her home in July. She was 85. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard G. Mills, in 1988. Mrs. Mills was born in Santa Monica Hospital, and is a native of Santa Monica. As a child, she participated in Campfire Girls. Around 9th grade she became the publisher of The Neighborhood News, a homemade newsletter which had her little sisters Mary and Nancy going around to the neighbors to gather their news, and Wendellyn typing up the pages and printing them. The girls sold copies to the neighbors for 10 cents. Nancy recalls that the Santa Monica Evening Outlook once did a brief story on their publication. Wendellyn took 8 years of piano lessons, and enjoyed playing classical and popular music for her family. While at University High School in Los Angeles, she marched in their Drill Team during halftime as one of the two students carrying the banner for the UHS football team. She attended two years at Occidental College, and went on to graduate from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Her college years (during the Cold War) included studying Russian and singing in a Presbyterian choir. Playing piano, singing, and breaking out into a Drill Team step to march music brought her delight through her life. And she loved playing the piano for the Christmas singing parties her daughters Madeleine and Melody hosted. She met her husband through a pen pal column in The Christian Science Monitor, sharing a love of dancing and an interest in politics. She was a lifelong member of the Christian Science Church, played piano for the Sunday School when needed, and enjoyed being a Reader at her local church for many years. She had a special talent for reading that made any book or article come alive. She moved to Felton in the 1960s with her husband. The highlight of her life was running a private school with her husband. It began in their home in 1969, and from 1971 to 1981, it moved to Roaring Camp, where she and her husband operated the Little Green School, a private one-room school teaching kindergarten through 12th grade. She loved teaching in the school. Many of the students came to the Little Green School needing the more individualized help in their school work from Mr. and Mrs. Mills to increase their learning skills up to grade level. She loved being a teacher to help these at risk students, and worked hard to provide structure to their school experience. It was a great joy to her to see the progress the children made. She is survived by her son, Richard T. Mills of Louisville, KY; three daughters, Madeleine Calabro of Avila Beach, Melody Mills of Felton, and Maureen Rowe of Sidney, OH; and her two sisters, Mary Nickerson of Louisville, CO, and Nancy Simpson of Reno, NV. A private cremation was held at Santa Cruz Memorial.