Eleanor "Melli" M. Mills

An indifferent student in youth, Melli went back to school at fifty and earned an RN degree cum laude. A published poet, she was known for her sense of humor. One of her favorite sayings, “We grow too soon old and too late smart.”

A self-described “accomplished failure” who grew

“too soon old, and too late smart.”

A minimally published poet, avid reader, and designer

of three houses in which she and family lived.

A wise-cracker with a macabre sense of humor.

Self-educated with obvious gaps,

and jealous of others.

Described by father as “born lazy which greatly

Enhanced her birth-right.”

Prolific writer of drivel and buyer of books.

A lover of words and mathematical idiot.

Realized too late that she lacked empathy,

She worked on it.

Lived a long life because she needed to

In order to work on failings.

Learned a lot but never enough.

In addition to her parents, Eleanor was preceded in death by her first husband, Norman Griffith Smith Sr.; second husband, John G. Mills; a son, Norman G. Smith, Jr.; her daughter, Claudia Carol Duffy; a brother, James Hooper Mellichamp II; and a sister, Frances Marion Mellichamp. She was a grateful descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Surviving is her son, Randolph Smith and his wife Barbara; her daughter, Amy Smith; six grandchildren, Justin Smith, Timothy Smith, Andrew Smith, Aileen Duffy, Erin Duffy, and Barclay Duffy; and four great-grandchildren, Moriah, Coen, Elyese, and Dylan.

A private graveside service will be held at a later date at Pohick Episcopal Church Cemetery, an area in Northern Virginia under-recognized by modern historians.

The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Arc of the Piedmont, 1149 Rose Hill Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22903.