Edward Leroy Mills, Sr., 78 of Springfield, Missouri, passed away Sunday, March 22, 1998, in Cox Medical Center South after a six month illness.
Services were held Wednesday, March 25, 1998 in the Berean Baptist Church in Springfield. Graveside services and U.S. Military honors were held at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Mills, the son of Oliver Leonard and Mae Alta Rice Mills, was born August 27, 1919 in Chadwick, Missouri.
He married Susannie Bowen April 4, 1941.
Soon thereafter, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in bases in Texas, New York and Mississippi. In 1944, he was sent overseas and served as a Staff Sgt. with the 163rd Engineer Combat Battalion in the European theater. He was awarded the Bronze Star.
After the war, the couple purchased a home on the land where they raised their family and still lived.
He was a lifetime member of the Carpenter's Union and was a construction superintendent on many commerical buildings in Springfield. He retired in 1982.
Mr. Mills accepted Jesus as his Saviour as a child and was an active member of the Berean Baptist Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, a sister and three grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Susannie; four daughters and their spouses, Linda and Mike Kahoa of Cheyenne; Janice and Melvin William of Strafford, Missouri; Rosa and Charley Robbins of Ongo, Missouri; Rachel and Ray Forrester of Springfield; five sons and their spouses, Tim, Ed and Julia, Mike and Nancy, Dan and Julie, and Brian and Patti; two brothers, Ernest and Fred Mills; and a sister, Madge Arthur, all of Springfield. He is also survived by nineteen grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren and a host of additional relatives and friends.