Mills, Beatrice Gilmer

Beatrice Gilmer Mills, 88, of Christiansburg, departed this life Tuesday morning, November 4, 2008, at Highland Ridge Health and Rehabilitation Center in Dublin after a long illness.

She was born in Giles County on December 4, 1919. “Bea” was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother and a talented gospel vocalist and pianist bringing joy and the movement of the Holy Spirit in her ministry and worked many years in the evangelist services with her evangelist mother. She had been a member of Bethel Chapel at Clendennin when she was younger and in later years Pilot Pentecostal Holiness Church and Oak Grove Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Elliott H. and Effie Kingrea Gilmer; her stepfather Joe Deaton; her sons, E. Franklin “Buddy” Mills and Ralph Gilmer Mills; her husband, Walter C. Mills; and her brother, Earl M. Gilmer. She leaves to cherish her memory a son, Walter M. Mills and Audrey, of Christiansburg; a daughter, Dwen Lilly and Carry, of Christiansburg; eight grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren and greatgreat-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted 11 a.m. Friday morning in the Kendall Funeral Home at 605 Snidow Street in Pembroke with Pastor Eddie Kendall officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Cemetery at Christiansburg. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. Online condolences may be sent by visiting kendallfuneralhome.com.