Naomi B. Mills

She went to school in the Dodson, Texas and Hollis, Oklahoma area, since the towns are just across the state line from each other. She sang with a quartet during high school and a musical group with her uncle. After she graduated, the principal came to her house to encourage her to come back and play the piano for school classes and performances. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Lloyd C. Mills.

In November 1937, her family was moving to south Texas so her father could work for the Texas Highway Department. Lloyd convinced her they would never see each other again, so they eloped. Her older sister went with them to Kansas in a borrowed car. Once the preacher was paid, they had just enough to share a hamburger and a Snickers bar. They worked and lived on many family farms until they all sold. Lloyd and Naomi then made their way to California with their four and a half year old son, Jerry Dane. Naomi had an aunt and uncle living in Hughson and it wasn't long before Lloyd was hired at the Hughson Creamery. He worked there in the lab until he retired from Foster Farms at age 62.

Naomi loved to keep the house, which they built in 1954, and loved to garden. She canned vegetables and fruit as many women did at that time. She also spent time with her mother who eventually made her home in Turlock. She was still living in the same cozy house and in fact, was known to joke that she would take it with her. Lloyd and Naomi went "home" to visit Oklahoma every year until Lloyd's mother died in her 90's. They stopped each year to see a different site once occupied by Native Americans.

Naomi was proceeded in death by her parents, older sister, husband, and son. She leaves behind her loving sister Jimmie Blakeley (Jerry), her niece Janis Rolleg (David) and their family of three; her daughter-in-law June Beck Mills; grandchildren Laura Peterson (Mike) and Eric Mills (Dena); great-grandchildren Abby Peterson, Hannah Peterson, Grayson Mills, and Evelyn Mills. She also leaves behind six great-nieces and nephews in Colorado as well as a local cousin, Jackie Cole. Her caregivers of the last two years, Becki and Karen Holly, love her like their own.

She will be laid to rest between her husband and mother at 11:00 AM on Friday, April 26, 2019 at Lakewood Memorial Park: 900 Santa Fe Avenue, Hughson, California.

Naomi had a keen interest in Native Americans. In lieu of flowers, donations to Southwest Reservation Aid: P.O. Box 1841 Merrifield, VA 22116-9605; or Native American Rights Fund: 1506 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302, would be appreciated.

Services for Naomi B. Mills are in the care of Whitehurst-Norton-Dias Funeral Service (FD504) in Turlock, California.