Chester P Mills Jr.

August 1, 1931 – May 27, 2024

Known as Check by friends and family, he was often mistakenly called Chet. He would patiently explain that he wanted to be called Check, like a check mark!

Check was born in Millville, New Jersey August 1st, 1931, and passed away at Abernethy Laurels in Newton, NC on May 27th, 2024. At an early age he loved animals, especially dogs and horses. While he was in school, both he and his brother, Rod, would help care for a friend’s horses just for the opportunity to be able to ride. After high school he joined the US Navy (14 Sep 1950 – 15 July 1953) and served on the same destroyer as his brother (USS Fred T. Berry). It was while he was in the Navy for Sonar and Attack System training in Key West that he would visit Miami Beach and there he met the love of his life, Marilyn Shirley Labow, who would eventually become his wife. The story is Marilyn’s dad saw Check drinking a Coke and not beer like other servicemen. He approached Check, introduced himself and asked him if he would like to meet his daughter. The rest was history!

Check went into the clothing and formal wear business with his father-in-law after marrying and moving to South Miami, Florida. He eventually took over the business located in Coral Gables and ran it until retirement. During that time, he raised three children with Marilyn. He enjoyed taking them boating, scuba diving and fishing. His children learned to water ski on the front of his water skis at a very early age. Eventually, with the turbulent 60’s and 70’s he decided a weekend place in the Florida Keys would be a great way to enjoy boating and keep his children safe. Their station wagon would be loaded to the brim with his children and their friends for frequent weekend trips to Key Largo. He spent countless hours teaching his kid’s friends how to fish, water ski and enjoy boating. All of their friends thought he was the best dad around!

When Check retired, he and Marilyn moved to the mountains of North Carolina to the small town of Sparta. While there he owned a welding shop, was active in Lions Club, volunteering at the elementary school library along with activities with the Sparta Masonic Lodge. A favorite hobby was owning and caring his own horses, working on the annual horse show and trail riding with friends and family. Shylock, his golden palomino quarter horse was very special to him. Shylock had lived in very Miami in a small paddock his entire life and had never been ridden. Dad worked on training him and him relocated from Miami to Sparta. Later he enjoyed owning a mule named Pete who pulled a carriage and who he also rode in parades and trails. Check became a fan of long ears! He and Marilyn also owned an old farmhouse just outside of town that they turned into a bed & breakfast with farm animals for guests to pet including many donkeys. He took special pride in a 1952 pick-up truck that he and his good friend, Chuck Chapman, restored. Check and his truck were seen in many of the Sparta parades. His truck was passed down to his son Mark and now Mark has passed it down to his son, David. The truck will be enjoyed and passed down in the family, as Check wished.

Marilyn and Check later moved to Abernethy Laurels in Newton in 2006. There Check was very active in community affairs and started volunteering at Catawba Animal Control/ Humane Society. He loved to help match families with new potential furry family members.

Check especially loved talking and being with his brother. They traveled together and even rode horses in Wyoming on a camping-road trip when they both well into their eighties.

He was very active in the churches in Miami, Sparta and Newton and often sang in the choir. He loved to provide support to the churches especially relating to business affairs. More recently he was a member of the Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ in Conover, NC.

Check was preceded in death by Marilyn, his wife, his brother Rod Mills, as well as his granddaughter, Chelsie Clark. He is survived by his three children, who meant the world to him along with his grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. He is survived by Penny Mills Clark and her husband, Don Clark, Mark Mills and his wife, Ana Marie Mills and Lynn Pusch Bellomo and her husband, Steve Bellomo. His grandchildren include Kristen Pusch Velett and her husband, Adam Velett, Trevor Pusch and his wife, Katie Pusch, Victoria Pusch Houck and her husband, Wyatt Houck, David Mills and his wife, Olivia Mills and Morgan Mills along with three great grandchildren include Crew Velett, Jack Pusch and Elle Pusch.

Though we mourn the loss, we also celebrate the incredible life you lived. … Thank you for being the best father any of us could have asked for. We love you, we miss you, and we will continue to make you proud. Rest in peace, dear Dad. Your memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved him.

The family will hold a celebration of life in Savannah, Georgia. In lieu of flowers the family kindly requests donations be made to benefit the Catawba Humane Society in Newton, NC.