Obituary of Josephine Mills

Mills: Josephine On December 26, 2019, at Kingston General Hospital, the matriarch of our family peacefully closed the final chapter in her lengthy Book of Life with her son Thomas Barry Mills and daughter Jeannette Louise Burr at her side. Born in Toronto in 1920, she met and married her one true love Bruce in 1939. She was employed by T. Eaton Co. and CIBC in Toronto, transferred to Kingston for a short time in 1974, then to Gananoque where she eventually retired from banking life. She continued to reside in Lansdowne until she moved to Oshawa in 2011. Jo lived independently until her 97th year. She returned to Gananoque in 2019 and was a resident at Carveth Care Lodge until November. During her long life, she was the organist at St. Cyprian's Church in Toronto, Treasurer and Vice-President of the Wrigley Co. Bowling League, social convenor of several euchre clubs, and enjoyed golfing, gardening, crafting, knitting and reading. Following retirement, she learned to play bridge and became an accomplished player. Jo was active in the senior's club of Gananoque and enjoyed many euchre games at the Royal Canadian Legion and home card parties. She travelled extensively across Canada and the United States with family and friends, often between Lansdowne and Oshawa. Josephine was predeceased by her beloved husband of 70 years, Bruce Benjamin (2009), son Douglas Bruce (Bonnie) , grandson Christopher Robson Burr, parents George Beine and Florence Josephine (Marsh) Paris, her siblings Thomas A. (Marilyn), Jennie Catherine Beaman (Tom), Jeune Eleanor, and Cora Winnifed Soames (Jim). She is survived by her son Thomas Barry (Maureen) of Alberta, daughter Jeannette Louise Burr (Keith Shannon) of Oshawa, Sisters Edythe Mulholland (Bill) of Pasadena, CA and Joan Wallace of San Pedro, CA. and Connie (Constance June) Painter (Charles) of Gananoque. 13 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren and was looking forward to greeting the sixth in April. She also leaves numerous dearly loved nieces, nephews and a multitude of friends across Canada and United States. Jo was proud of all the accomplishments achieved by her large and extended family. She was a sweet, kind, stubborn, beautiful, fun-loving, open-hearted woman who gave us a model for living we can only hope to emulate. Special thanks to the doctors, nurses and PSWs of Kidd 4, Kingston General Hospital (especially Eli and Beth) for their kind and compassionate care provided over the past five weeks to Josephine and family. Thank you also to the staff of Carveth Care Lodge for the cheerfulness and kindness extended to Jo. As requested by her, cremation has taken place. A celebration of life will be scheduled for a future date. Internment will follow in Spring at Gananoque Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for research to Alzheimer's Association of choice.