Obituary of Charles "Chuck" E. Mills

Charles Edward Mills was born on April 29, 1930 to Edward Robert and Mabel King Mills in a dug out six miles north of Bethune. He entered into rest on May 26, 2021 at the Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital at age 91 with his family by his side. As a young boy, he would wander through the hills with his dog and one day he became lost so the neighbors were called in to help find him. He moved southwest of Bethune and lived with his Grandma King for his first year of school. He and his cousin rode double to school at Pious Point every day. His parents had moved 3 miles south of Burlington where he started 2nd grade at Burlington Public School. Growing up on the farm, he had many chores to do. As normal kids he and his sister pulled several pranks which they got in trouble for. When he got home from school, he would harness up his pet goat Billy to gather corncobs and cow chips to burned in the stove. On Sunday, he would ride his pony a mile west to the neighbors where they held their own rodeo. He enjoyed riding his Shetland Tony to the Burlington fairgrounds to race in the pony races, which he won several times. In high school, he would ride his Morgan horse Beauty to the Harrison place ½ mile south of Burlington then walk on into town to join in social events. After school, he would harness up his dad’s team to the Fresno to clean corrals. He always got in on helping pick corn by hand, as the horses pulled the wagon down the rows. His love for horses was evident as he always had saddle horses and his Belgium draft horses to work with. He loved sports of all kinds especially football where Burlington was state champions 3 years in a row. A dislocated shoulder and a broken leg did not keep him down for long. He graduated with the class of 1949. Shortly out of high school, he joined the navel reserves and spent 8 years, one week a month with Doug Hillman his best friend mostly in San Diego, California and Seattle, Washington. While in the reserves, he spent many hours in PV2 bombers practicing their maneuvers hence his love for flying. He took pilots lessons until he got married when he quit to raise a family. He always wished he had gotten his pilot’s license. He married Ladeen Lowe on September 15, 1951 and they moved to the place he called home for 68 years in 1953. They dairied for many years along with farming then he switched to beef cattle along with farming. In later years, the folks would hitch up the camper and spend several months in the winter in southern Texas where they made many friends. He still enjoyed his dog Jackie, checking cattle and helping move equipment from one field to the next. He served on the FHA board, the Seibert Coop board, was given the Service Legend Award by the Cattlemen’s Association in 2011 and was a member of the Burlington United Methodist Church. Those preceding him in death were his wife Ladeen, parents Ed and Mabel Mills, sister Joyce Mercer, in laws Art and Thelma Lowe, 3 sister in laws and 2 brother in laws. Those left to mourn his passing are his kids, Dan (Louise), of Stratton, Charleen (Loran) of Vona, and Dale (Mona) of Valberg, Montana. Five grandson: Andy, Tony, Brad, Kyle and Geoffrey. He enjoyed these boys so much he hardly missed a game or activity they were in. Nine great grandkids: Aubry, Brielle, Case, Emma, Jaxson, Paislee, Trey, Zade and Quincy whom he enjoyed immensely whenever they were around. Brother in law Paul Mercer of Wichita Falls, Texas, sister in law Judy (Wade) Johnson of Grand Junction, Colorado, two nieces, a nephew, numerous cousins and friends. Memorials may be made to the Stratton United Methodist Church in Charles' memory and may be left at or sent to Love Funeral Home, 377 15th Street, Burlington, Colorado 80807.