Anne Mills

Anne (Gurinian) Mills, 96, of Green Bay, formerly of Houghton Michigan and South Milwaukee, Wi, went to be with her Heavenly Father on September 12, 2024, with her three daughters close at hand. She was born to Armenian parents in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in March of 1928, the daughter of Simon and Hosanna Gurinian. Anne graduated from South Milwaukee High School and afterward became an accountant, working for several great companies and had many friends at each. At Ladish, she met her future husband, Donald Jack Mills, (now deceased) who was a Mechanical Engineer. The two wed in July of 1953, and the marriage was blessed with three daughters, Dawn, Vicki, and Judy. The family lived in Racine, and Anne was devoted to her role as wife and mother, as well as to her many relatives and friends. Jack and Anne moved to Houghton Michigan to be closer to Jack’s family, and she was an active leader in the Faculty Women’s Club at Tech. She supported her husband’s career and her children’s success and taught Sunday School at her Presbyterian Church, while also supporting their missions by baking her family’s delicious pastry recipes for bake sales and events. Anne was a creative person. She sewed her daughters’ prom dresses, coats, and many other advanced projects and loved making her house a home for her family. 

As the girls became older, Anne became a top-notch Elias Big Boy Restaurant Manager, a position she held for many years, along with food service positions at Michigan Tech. She then went on to build a tremendous career as a new build realtor in the Green Bay area for REM, and for Hillcrest Homes and was an expert in drawing new home plans to scale for her clients, (including some of the Packers players as she was an avid fan). Many of her clients came back to her for several homes during their lives. 

Anne was a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was a world class cook and often shared her talents with her friends. She loved being with her grandchildren and watching them grow in their accomplishments. She sewed many beautiful dresses for her beloved granddaughters as well as taking great pride in her grandson Matthew. Anne developed many close friendships throughout the years, many that lasted throughout her lifetime. Most of all, she loved people; we remember her as someone who could sit in an airport for twenty minutes and come away having made friends—her charisma and love of people shone in her eyes. She made a difference in every facet of her life. 

She was able to live in her own home until earlier this year, and when she moved to Brookview Meadows, she was proud to be a resident there. She attended church as well as many other activities weekly, and loved visits from her family, who fondly called her GG—great grandmother—she was great in every way. 

She will be forever missed by her family - three daughters, Dawn (George) Madl of Dyckesville, Vicki (Stuart) Betts of Green Bay, and Judy (Rich-deceased) Johnson of western WA; her grandchildren, Corey (Joe) Wollin, Jenna (Paul) Hajny, Charles (Lia- Fiancee) Betts, Matthew Madl, and Megan (Christopher) Johnson and her great grandchildren, Isaac and Milena Hajny, Eleanor and Everett Wollin, Madelyn and Julia Johnson, numerous nieces and nephews, other relatives and many, many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Donald and son-in-law Rich Johnson.

The family extends their profound gratitude to the staff of Brookview Meadows—their staff was so wonderful to Anne, and so supportive to us in our time of grief. 

Anne chose to opt out of a funeral and preferred that those close to her remember her as the charming and caring woman that she has always been. 

A celebration of life will be held next summer—please add your name and address in comments here, so we can include you if you would like to come! 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Anne Mills, please visit our floral store.