Mary’s Obituary Saratoga Springs, NY – Mary Rabe Millis, aged 84, left this world peacefully on Thursday, February 7th, after a brief illness. Born Mary (King) Rabe on April 6, 1934, she was a lifelong Saratogian. Her parents were Astrid Emilia Berg, an immigrant from Sweden, and Fred Hanso Rabe, also a lifelong Saratogian.
Mary grew up in the family home at 110 Jefferson Street, where she was joined by her younger sister Alene in 1939. Although born into the Great Depression, Mary lived a childhood of abundance surrounded by a network of extended Swedish family and close friends. Her mother Astrid cooked sturdy homemade meals with a heavy Swedish influence.
Her father Fred, a well driller by trade, tended a large garden every summer, the fruits of which carried the family through the year. She always had the best of clothes because her mother was a superb seamstress and tailored clothes just for her. She was a beautiful child with bright blue eyes and blonde hair which her mother made sure to set off with her wardrobe.
While in high school Mary was active in Speech Club and used her athletic abilities as a Drum Corp majorette. The majorettes marched, danced, and twirled batons in front of the band at high school games and parades. She further pursued dance through lessons she took from a sibling dance duo in their studio on Broadway.
After graduation, Mary put her business major to use as a secretary at the Knowles Atomic Power Lab in Schenectady. In 1954 she and Ronald T. Millis, Sr. were married in the Presbyterian Church and then spent several years in Georgia while Ron fulfilled his commitment to the U. S. Army. They returned to Saratoga where in 1957 their first child, Ronald, Jr., was born.
A daughter, Tamarra, and another son, Matthew, came along in 1959 and 1967. In 1962 the family moved into what would be their forever home on Adams Street. It was in this place that they would raise their children among a tightly knit group of neighbors and lifelong friends including the McMahon’s, the McCarthy’s, and the Galvin’s.
Theirs was a neighborhood where doors were always open. Taking care of her family was Mary’s primary mission in life; however, she enjoyed working part time over the years, most notably at the NY State Unemployment Office and later as a teacher’s aide in the Saratoga Springs School System. As a young woman she was a member of the Junior League and participated in their annual Red Garter Revue.
Mary had an enduring tie with her 1952 graduating class from SSHS and worked on every reunion committee since then. At some point, Mary took a Wilton Cake decorating class and thus began a passion for baking and elaborately decorating beautiful cakes for any occasion. In later years, she enjoyed traveling with her husband Ron and visiting their children across the country.
They were married for 62 years until Ron’s death in 2017. Mary will be deeply missed by her friends and family. She is survived by her sister Alene Zetterstrom of Rexford, NY, her three children, Ronald T. Millis, Jr. (Tessa Tarantino), Tamarra Millis Chambers (Craig Chambers), and Matthew Scott Millis, granddaughter Lauren Astrid Chambers, and nephews Erik Zetterstrom and Lars Zetterstrom and their families.
Relatives and friends may call from 4 to 7pm Friday, February 15, 2019 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs (518-584-5373). A funeral home service will be at 10am Saturday, February 16. Burial will be at the Greenridge Cemetery in the Spring of 2019.
Online remembrances may be made at www. burkefuneralhome.com.
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