Esther I. Mills, 88, Was Devoted to Community

Esther I. (Shirt) Mills of Edgartown died Monday, March 1, at her home on North Summer street after a brief illness. She was 88.

She was born in Meriden, Conn., on Jan. 29, 1916, the daughter of the Rev. Stanley and Mabel (Padley) Shirt, who emigrated from England.

She grew up in various towns in western Massachusetts due to her father's Episcopal ministry. She was graduated from Dalton High School and then received her teaching degree from Salem State Teacher's College. In the 1930s she moved to Edgartown to teach in the Edgartown School.

She was married in 1945 to Dr. Donald R. Mills when he returned from the war. He died in the early 1980s.

Mrs. Mills was an advocate for the town of Edgartown, where she was school committee member, member of the Edgartown Council on Aging, and a volunteer with the historical society and with Meals on Wheels. She helped start up the Hospice of Martha's Vineyard program, which she served as treasurer, and the Visiting Nurse Association. She was an active member of St. Andrew's Church family.

The Gazette interviewed Mrs. Mills in 1988 when she was named Senior of the Year by Elder Services of Cape Cod for her years of service on the Edgartown Council on Aging board. She recalled that when she came to the Island in 1937 to teach commercial subjects in the Edgartown High School, she also coached the girls' basketball team. "In those days a commercial teacher did whatever was necessary," she said. She also recalled firing up the pot-bellied stove at the old Edgartown Boys' and Girls' Club, together with Betty Robichau, in preparation for dance classes there.

"I'm a people person," Mrs. Mills told the Gazette, and she added that being the doctor's wife also brought her closer to the community. "One time I even helped my husband deliver a baby in the office," she said.

She is survived by her son, Donald Mills, and his companion, Kristen Kinser, of West Tisbury; her daughter, Virginia Mills and her husband, Kenneth Morey, of Nashua, N.H.; her sister, Ruth Shirt-Porter of State College, Pa.; her granddaughter, Kendra Mills of West Tisbury, and several nieces.

Her memorial service will be held in St. Andrew's Church, Edgartown at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 26. Donations may be made in her memory to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to St. Andrew's Church, P.O. Box 1287, Edgartown, MA 02539 or to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements are under the care of Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.