Marion Mills(always known as Dutch) was born 100 years ago today to Thomas Jefferson and Alice Mills in Payson, Oklahoma. He was the youngest of seven children. Five brothers and two sisters. His father secured their homestead in the Oklahoma Land Run. We still own the homestead today. My father lived in Payson, Oklahoma until he was 21 when he moved to Oklahoma City and lived with my aunt and uncle and worked at my uncle's gas station. It wasn't long until he was hired by the Oklahoma City Police Department and he started out walking a beat at the Stockyards. During this time, he started dating my mother and they married in 1936. He retired after 25 years from the police department as a detective. He went on to work for one of the county commissioners still working in city government until his death in 1980. He had two daughters. He was an avid sportsman. He loved to hunt and fish. He raised bird dogs and sold them and his other passion was woodworking. I have some beautiful pieces of furniture in my home that he made for me. I might add he had an eighth grade education.
Now, let me tell you a little about my daddy. He is probably the most patient man I have ever known. When I was a young girl, I remember my mother and grandmother saying of my dad "he has the patience of Job." When he became angry I knew it but he was always in control of himself.
These are some of the wonderful memories I have of my dad. My most cherished one is of a hot summer day and the ice cream man is coming down our neighborhood ringing his bell and me and five playmates are playing outside my home and I start to run inside the house to ask for ice cream money when my dad steps outside the house and starts walking towards me and my friends. We are jumping from one foot to the other on the hot pavement and my dad pulls out his little plastic football change purse that you squeeze from each end and it opens up(remember those) and he gives not only me ice cream money but each one of my friends. We were all so excited and I remember thinking that I had the best dad in the world.
This memory is so funny. He would always play in the floor with me, tickling me and chasing me on all fours and I would run screaming through the house but after we had settled down I would go and get bobbie pins and wet his hair down and roll pin curls all over the top of his head. I was playing beauty shop. :) Then after a while I would comb his hair out and I thought it looked beautiful. He did too! :)
This memory is precious. We had a gas floor furnace and at night my mother always turned it off because she was always worried that we might get gassed during the night if the flame blew out. So, it was extremely cold in the house in the winter when you woke up. When I got up in the morning my dad was usually dressed sitting with a chair pulled up to the edge of the furnace warming himself and drinking his coffee. I would run and jump in his lap and get all warm. He would hold my feet out over the warm air blowing up from the furnace and then draw them back. Then when I got dressed I would go back and sit in his lap and bring my socks and he would hold my socks over the heat to warm them up and then put them on my feet.
I have so many wonderful memories of him. Him teaching me to fish and showing me how to put a worm on the hook, teaching me to water ski.....and Oh, learning to drive with a stick shift was hilarious. I about jerked his head off. Today as I sit and remember him and what a wonderful man he was I know how blessed I was to have such a wonderful father. I want to say that he was not a religious man but he lived out the life of Jesus without ever saying a word. I saw in his life what it meant to be a friend to others. He was always there to help family and friends and gave generously of his resources. The day of his funeral there wasn't even standing room. I think that says it all.
Several years ago God was preparing me for something and He told me three things. The last thing He told me was "Trust Me like your Daddy."
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