Charles Wayne Mills

Charles “Wayne” Mills, 54, of Elkridge, MD passed away on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. He is preceded in death by his loving mother Judith (Judy) Rock and father Kemper Mills, grandmother Juanita Poff, along with other loving aunts and uncles. He is survived by his amazingly devoted wife Tracy Mills, sons Charles “Adam” and Tyler Mills, daughter in law Barbra “Barbie” Stump, granddaughters Hayleigh and Natalie Mills, sister Juanita “Nita” Crouch and his brother Kemper “Lee” Mills. Father and mother in-law Sidney “Sid” and Patsy Smith, Brother in-law Travis and Sister in-law Tina Smith. He leaves behind talented nieces Becky and Emily Crouch, Kaitlynn Mills and nephew Dustin Smith. Friends that are family, Shawn and Doretta Copeland, Jorge “Chamba” Rivera. Along with amazing and loving aunts, uncles and cousins that are too many in number to name that will miss the heck out of him.

Wayne loved spending time with his sons and being outdoors which led to him becoming involved with the Boy Scouts. After years of going on numerous camp outs, hikes, jamborees and assisting with the pine wood derby he stepped in to the roll of assistant troop leader. His favorite vacation was seeing family either on the Eastern shore of Maryland or going to Roanoke (Vinton), Virginia which he claimed as his hometown where most of his family lived. He enjoyed fresh caught crab, fishing on the bay, hanging with his family and bonfires.

He worked at Giant Food Warehouse for over 20 years and made some great friends there. He witnessed an incident on the job that drove him to become a volunteer on the Emergency Response Team. He later became a Red Cross Instructor and did in house training for employees. His last job was one he loved, Emergent BioSolutions, where he again found a place with some great people. They were there for him and his family at a very difficult time and he appreciated everything that they did. He did not want to leave but his health left him no choice.

He was a diehard Redskins fan from birth and loved attending games with family and friends. Part of the fun was tailgating and coming up with new things to cook, no hamburgers and hot dogs for him.

He loved his country and had great respect and admiration for all who have served.

A celebration of Wayne’s life will be held on Sunday, February 2, 2020 at Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home 7250 Washington Blvd. Elkridge, MD 21075. Friends and family will be received from 1:00pm – 3:00pm, with the service starting at 3:00pm.

The family would like to extend their sincerest thanks to the following people for their help during this long and troubling time. Chamba, Reina, Lisseth and the whole Rivera family, God Bless you. Chrissy Prieto, he loved the coleslaw. Caridad Rubio-Cooper and Troy Cooper, no better listeners. The staff at University of Maryland most notably Dr. Stephen S. Gottlieb, Dr. Shawn Robinson, Jennifer Marshall and Ashley Gibson.