Barbara June Mills

Barbara June Mills was born on August 25, 1925, in Waterloo, Oregon to the late Paul Robert & Mary Elizabeth Heyne. She passed away peacefully on July 31, 2025 with family by her side at her home at Dale Commons. She was 25 days shy of 100 years old, almost reaching her full century well-lived. A graduate of Lebanon High School, OR, she was a Rainbow Girl, an organization that focused on leadership & community as she actively supported the USO during World War II. One night at a USO dance, she met Alabama soldier boy Henry Mills & they wrote letters while she was working as a long-distance operator in Boise, Idaho while he was serving in Germany. Several years later, she made the 3-day train trip to Brooklyn, New York to marry Henry & begin a new life & family. Ultimately, they moved to California in 1964 & eventually settled in Modesto.

Barbara was an exceptional waitress for over 50 years, making life-long friends of customers & staff extending from famous restaurants in New York all the way to California. Many people remember her from The Sun Dial Restaurant in Modesto.

She was a wonderful cook, famous for her biscuits, fried chicken & pomegranate jelly. She enjoyed shopping, gardening, traveling to see family, having her hair & nails done weekly, & being with her friends & family. Anyone that ever met her always remarked that she was so kind & elegant.

She was a loyal member of The Village Chapel Free-Will Baptist Church of Ceres. Barbara enjoyed listening to country music & dancing with her friends at the Moose Lodge 1608 & VFW Post 3199, both of Modesto.

She had a special relationship with each member of her family. Barbara is survived by the following loving children: Ronnie Paul (Judith) Mills, Robert “Joe” (Rose) Mills, Peggy Sue Ballard, Deborah (Russell) Mize, Dianne (Rob) Burkett & stepson John (Margot) Mills.

These are her beloved grandchildren: JoAnne (Mike) O’Kelley, David Paul (Traci) Mills, Katherine (Steve) Taylor, Melissa & Marilyn Harlan, Matthew Scott (Amanda) Fuqua, Michael Henry (Sonja) Fuqua, Leon (Shannon) Mize, Johnny (Paula) Mize, Robert (Heather) Mize, Robby Burkett, Ashley Burkett, & Michael Mills.

Here’s the list of her precious great-grandchildren: Jacob (Jessica), Christopher (Almira), Hannah (Gabriel), Benjamin (Kyra), Jackson, Berkleigh (Jovany), Joely, Jadyn, Michael, Abbigail, Jenny (Michael), Alec (Celeste), Simon & Carma, Mia & Quora, Ava, Kaylie, Merritt, and puppies Springer & Baxter.

Barbara was thrilled with her great-great-grandchildren including the following: Ezekiel, Gabriel & Eleanor, Cybele, and Clark & Jack.

She also left behind many special nieces, nephews, cousins, & friends. Those that departed before Barbara include this list: her parents, her husband, her infant daughter Margaret, her siblings Cecil Heyne & Betty Keeler, & her son-in-law Richard Ballard, & great grandpuppy Cash.

A visitation for Barbara will be held Thursday, August 7, 2025 from 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM at Lakewood Funeral Home, 900 Santa Fe Ave, Hughson, CA 95326, followed by a funeral service from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed… Proverbs 31:28