Ida Margaret Schwartz-Millard

Ida Schwartz Millard was born December 26, 1927. She was incredibly smart and talented, a nurturer by nature, a dancer, and an artist. Her parents were doting but firm, and they were very close. They even lived across the street after she married!

At 13, she met a younger man—Edward Millard—and fell in love. His parents would not allow them to marry until he turned 20. Because he was a few months younger, they had to wait until April 1948...but they only waited 2 weeks after his birthday because they had waited long enough! They had twin boys that she carried to term (quite a feat today, much less in 1950), Michael and David. They are mirror twins, and were quite the handful. Yet she was also a loving and firm mother, like her parents with her, and even when Mike and Dave peanut-buttered and jellied the couch, she took it all in stride and rarely yelled.

They used to go to Ocean City for vacation and she took them in the water to jump the waves. She went to their schools and made sure her boys had the best teachers; she worked with them on their lessons using homemade flash cards. Ida tried to make the boys phonetic spellers but the school system won and neither can spell. She shared with them her love of art, and gave the boys both private oil painting lessons. She was a great and very proud mom!

Her home away from home was the Baltimore County Police Department, where she was a clerk and “work mom” to the boys in blue. She took care of the “narc squad” until midnight every night, until she retired some twenty years later.

She loved nature—she had the greenest thumb that ever was—with the ability to bring even nearly dead plants back to life. She especially loved African Violets and knew how to make them blossom even though they are tricky and delicate. Her favorite gifts were plants, and those plants loved her back, giving off spectacular blooms. She passed her green thumb to both her boys.

She was an avid bird watcher, and could identify birds by their calls in addition to by sight. She loved kitty cats—the meaner the better it seemed—and even though she was a self-proclaimed cat lady, Ida also loved their cocker spaniel Sherry.

She had an eye for design and color, and she liked what she liked. She didn’t give a hoot if anyone else liked it, except maybe Ed, who sometimes had a say in what went into the house. She was stubborn as heck! She was very opinionated, but never pushy. She was the perfect balance of telling you like it was, but NEVER telling you what it should be. She respected others’ opinions, even if, and when, she did not agree. She listened, offered guidance, but never made a decision for you.

She used to love to attend craft shows and go antiquing. She had a keen eye for anything handmade, and loved to not just experience the beauty, but also the workmanship and creativity of the craftsman. She was also a craftsman--doing pressed flowers, needlepoint--and of course she painted—both paintings and furniture.

In addition to being artistic, she was creative with words. She was intelligent and clever—she liked riddles and crosswords, and created scavenger hunts for her grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, to find their gifts on holidays. It is such a well-loved and remembered thing, that her daughter-in-law has kept the Christmas scavenger hunt tradition alive for the great grandchildren.

Even with all of her wonderfulness, Ida did have a few minor flaws. Again, she was stubborn as all get out. And once she made up her mind, there was nothing, NOTHING you could do to change it.

And she was a jinx behind the wheel! While she was an excellent driver, she had not-so-great luck when she took to the roads. She had 3 wrecks back-to-back and NONE were her fault. The first, a lady approaching was adjusting her radio and veered into her lane, causing a major head-on wreck. Another time a woman missed the sharp turn at Peerce's Plantation in a downpour and totaled both Ida’s AND Ed's cars….when they were following each other home after picking up mom's "fixed" car from the first wreck. Then, after she got the car fixed the 2nd time, while driving on the same road, a deer jumped on the hood of her car and fell through the windshield. She quit driving shortly after that and Ed was her then literally her “ride or die” and chauffeured her around everywhere!

But despite these “flaws” Ida was an amazing lady, silly and fun, and sweet and clever, stubborn and opinionated, intelligent and warm. She was so, so warm, welcoming, and loving, and made you feel safe, and loved, just being in her presence. She radiated authenticity, and a genuine love of her friends and family. Her hugs were the BEST and she took great joy from being with her family. She taught us all how to be our best selves and not lose sight of where, and who, we came from. She was truly one in a trillion. She loved us, and us, her, whole big lots.

Love and miss you always, "Ide," Mom, Grandmom, GGMom.

Love,

Us