In Loving Memory of Irene S. Mills

Irene S. Mills, wife of pay parity plaintiff, Walter Mills, died on Monday, October 25, 2010 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was born on Valentine's day in Morgnec, a small community in Kent County, Maryland. She was the fifth of eight children. She received her elementary school education at Joshua's Chapel. Because Morgnec did not have a high school where African Americans could attend, she traveled by horse and buggy to stay at her aunt's house during the week, so she could attend Garnett High School. Her persistance and hard work generated great dividends. She graduated as the valedictorian from Garnett High School in 1929. In 1931, she again graduated as the valedictorian; this time from Bowie Normal School. She went on to receive a M. A. from New York University. While engaged in the pursuit to obtain more knowledge, she met Walter Mills on the campus of Hampton Institute. The couple married ten years later.

She spent forty-six years serving the children of Maryland as an educator. She taught at Garnett Elementary School in Kent County for eighteen years. In addition, she also taught at Ralph J. Bunch Elementary School and Adams Park Elementary School. She also served as the principal of Ralph J. Bunch Elementary School and Germantown Elementary School, both in Annapolis.

Like her husband, she was involved in several civic organizations. She was the past president of the Salvation Army Board of Directors. She was also a member of United Methodist Women, American Association of University Women, the Friends of Banneker-Douglass Museum, and the Banneker-Douglass Museum Foundation, whose last meeting she attended. Indeed, her presence at the Friends' and the Foundation's meetings will be missed.

Her husband of 45 years, Walter Mills, died in 1994. She is survived by her daughter, Valerie Mills Cooper, her sister, Alberta Smack, and two grandchildren, Irene Cooper and Royia Cooper Wilson.