WEATHERSFIELD, Vt. – Mary Ellen “Mimi” Millard, 80, passed away after a short illness at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vt., on March 9, 2024, surrounded by her family. She was born in Springfield, Vt., on Feb. 18, 1944, to Richard “Red” and Mary (Griffin) Forbush. She and her siblings loved summers spent on the water at their aunt’s camps in Alstead, N.H. and York, Maine, traditions which she faithfully continued with her own family. On her birthday in 1966, she married her longtime friend Art Millard, and together they began a family. Although Mary Ellen was a lifelong resident of Windsor County, she had a contagious sense of adventure, and brought the outside world in. Her decades-long career in the White River Junction Post Office helped her to discover and explore countless small towns across Vermont and New Hampshire, and after her retirement, she traveled extensively with a group from the Springfield Senior Center, visiting Australia; Ireland; Alaska; Branson, Mo.; Nashville, Tenn.; the Grand Canyon; and beyond. She also purchased the camp she so dearly loved as a child in Alstead, sharing the special place each summer with her children and grandchildren – kayaking, swimming, sitting on the porch, sharing meals, and celebrating many family birthdays. She was our generous, loving, adventurous, spirited, fiercely independent wife, mom, nana, and sister, who will be dearly missed, but dearly remembered.
She is survived by her husband Art Millard of Weathersfield; two children Sean Millard and wife Tammy of Perkinsville, Vt., and Katy Millard and husband Stephen Dauphin of Weathersfield; her two siblings Judy Benjamin of North Springfield, Vt., and Richard “Dick” Forbush and wife Janet of Bellows Falls, Vt.; her sisters-in-law Noella Forbush of Springfield and Mary Lou (Millard) Aldrich of Buxton, Maine, and husband Kenney; two grandchildren Abby Millard-Peña and Ben Millard; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother David Forbush, and her brother-in-law Freeman Benjamin.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 26, starting at 2 p.m., and will conclude with a Memory Sharing Celebration of Mary Ellen’s Life at 4 p.m., at Knight Funeral Home in Windsor, Vt. Memorial donations are appreciated to the Alzheimer’s Association, and online condolences may be made at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.