E. Lawrence Mills (7th May 1927 - 21st June 2011)
Lawrence passed away peacefully the morning of
Tuesday 21st June 2011 at the age of 84. The funeral was at Eastbourne Crematorium
followed by a reception at The Manor Barn in Bexhill on Monday July 11th. Phyllis
was touched
that some Redhillians had made the effort to be there. There were about 10 ex-redhillians
(staff + pupils) present as well as Phyllis, her twin sister Daphne Halladey with
sons Andrew and Richard plus their spouses, other relatives, friends and the caretakers
of Phyllis and Daphne. Most attendees though were from PROBUS a national organisation
for retired business people and Pathfinders which is a charity.
About 70 people attended the funeral which says a lot about the friends and families of Lawrence and Phyllis. Everyone had to move into the larger chapel that was able accommodate the larger than expected gathering. Andrew Halladey gave the Eulogy. After the funeral everyone moved outside to where the flowers were displayed - the congregation filed past and said their condolences. The reception at Bexhill followed. Almost all the funeral attendees went on to the reception (2 Redhillians did not and another 2 only went to the reception). The Manor Barn is a very nice place with beautiful landscaping. A buffet lunch was provided and the Redhillians gathered around a table to eat. Andrew Halladey circulated around to each table. He was pleased to see the RHS group and link faces to names. He was also grateful for what the RHS group told him of the LM we knew - 'Milly' as we called him. There were two of Lawrence's photo/scrapbook albums to browse through.
In
attendance (ex-RHS) at both the memorial service and reception (unless noted otherwise)
were: Donard Baird, Peter Bradshaw, *Roy Clark, Andrew Cleare, Jack Hazelgrove,
Julian Morgan, **David Moth, Phyllis Oliver, Michael Smith, **Peter Still, *Michael
Warren, Eddie Wearing - I could be missing one or two names.
* not at reception ** not at memorial service
Lawrence met Phyllis at Red Hill School (both were members of staff). They married on 23rd March 1957 at East Sutton Church. Andrew Cleare was one of the Red Hill pupils who attended.
Terry Wilson - July 2011
Lawrence Mills photo courtesy of Phil Culmer
click on images below for the memorial service (courtesy of Andrew Cleare & Peter Bradshaw)
click on photos below for larger image - all taken 11th July 2011