Juliana Sue Milas

Juli was born in Columbus, Ohio to Merritt Edgell Warner and Mildred Freshwater Warner on June 4, 1941 and went to grade and high school there where she was a majorette with the marching band. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 1963 with a Bachelor’s in Education. She was married to Gene Milas on Dec 29, 1983 in Tampa. She worked as an Elementary School Teacher, the American Cancer Society, Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Smith Barney. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Tampa, attended Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, was a volunteer at the Tampa Museum of Art, the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, the Florida Orchestra, the Straz Center, and other art-focused groups. She danced with the NY Rockettes and sang at the Carnegie Hall. She truly gave of herself to help others and promote the arts in Tampa.

Juli is preceded in death by Gene Milas (second spouse), Kenneth Deeds (first spouse), Father Merritt Edgell Warner and Mother Mildred Freshwater Warner, Aunt Mariam Stovenour Warner Thompson, Uncle James K Freshwater, 1st cousins Mary Marie Freshwater Dutcher and Richard Merritt Thompson, and 1st cousin once removed Lori Thompson.

Juli is survived by son Christopher Merritt Deeds and wife Kristina, son Brian Richard Deeds and wife Ivelisse; stepdaughters Stephany Madliger and Cindy Milas; step grandchildren Holly Trau, Aimee Jackson, and Ashley Turek; step great grandchildren Tristan Turek, Zoeyo Turek, Sterling Jackson, and Connor Trau; first cousins Lee Freshwater Montgomery and Anna Thompson Canterbury; first cousins once removed Mark Montgomery, Juli Knecht, Vicki Dutcher, Charles K Dutcher, Tami Canterbury, Daniel Canterbury II, and Cathy Seppanen.

The Celebration of Life services will be held at Blount and Curry Funeral Oldsmar West Hillsborough (6802 Silvermill Dr.) with Fitz Connor of First Presbyterian Church of Tampa officiating, on Saturday January 14th, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. The family will begin receiving friends and family at 2:00pm.

Juli was cremated and will be transferred to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio where to be placed next to her husband Gene Milas and her parents Merritt and Mildred Warner.

The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to the Moffitt Cancer Center or Suncoast Hospice in lieu of flowers.

The family of Juli Milas wishes to extend our sincere thanks to St Joseph Hospital, Suncoast Hospice Care Center of North Pinellas,and Sevim (Sam) Kline & Kristina Hallili.

Juli was an animal lover as was most of her family. They had many cats and dogs over the years but the first one was when she was very young and was a dog appropriately named Yippy, who was her dad’s hunting dog. Years later after many dogs and cats she and Gene got Barney, a loving and sweet German Shepherd which was a favorite.

When Juli was about 9 or 10 years old her parents brought her to her Aunt Mary and Uncle Cloyd’s farm about 50 miles north of Columbus to stay for a week with her cousins. It became a yearly trip, and she had a wonderful time being there, seeing the farm animals, playing with her cousin, exploring the barns and attics, playing dress-up with old clothes found in boxes in the closet, going to the County Fair, eating home grown corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes, and sometimes home churned ice-cream at the neighbors across the road.