Christine Catherine Marguerite Millard

Christine Catherine Marguerite Owen Millard
Born JANUARY 4th, 1925 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England
Died MAY 14th, 2019 • Mountain Vista Nursing Home, Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Christine passed away quietly, as she had wanted; her daughter Carolyn sat vigil while her life slipped away. Christine
embodied her pre-World War II British heritage, all things great and good in that time.
Christine was the fifth of six children, and the last surviving child, of Harold Mostyn Owen and Edith Mary Acaster Dean.
Mostyn and Edith lived in Willesden, Middlesex, England, where their first 3 children were born: Elaine (1912), Mostyn
(1915), and John (1916). Christine's father and both of his brothers served in WWI. Mostyn was captured and held in a
German POW camp until after the Armistice in 1918. Shortly later, Mostyn and Edith moved their family to Chesham, in
Buckinghamshire, where they had 3 more children: Stephanie (1922), Christine (1925) and Rosemary (1927). Christine
fondly recalled an almost idyllic childhood highlighted by playing under the weeping willow in the garden, walks in the
nearby woods, Sunday drives, picnics at Chorley Wood, and their annual family "holiday" at Perry Farm on a hill above
Teignmouth, in Devon.
All that ended abruptly in the autumn of 1939, when World War II broke out in Europe. Christine's brothers went into
service, Mostyn in the Army and John in a reserved occupation. Rather than joining a women's service branch, Christine
went to work in a condenser factory testing radio condensers. She often talked about her work there, laughing that the
manager Mr. Lac used to say, "If we paid you by the piece, we wouldn't be able to afford to keep you." Two evenings a
week Christine and her sisters, Stephanie and Rosemary, volunteered at the Red Cross Canteen in Chesham. It was there
that Christine was introduced to Charles Edwin Millard, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed at nearby
Bovingdon Air Base. They fell in love, and three months later, on June 16, 1945, they were married in St. Mary's Church,
Chesham. After the war ended, and a week spent on Salisbury Plain being "processed" along with hundreds of other
"English War Brides," the brides boarded troop transport ships, arrived at Ellis Island, and then traveled by train to their
new homes. Christine's journey included a one-day stop in Chicago, with a shopping expedition and her first Coca Cola.
Christine arrived in Denver, Colorado, on April 10, 1946.
Although she and Charles built a home and family in Wheat Ridge and Arvada, Christine said she never fully adjusted to
the high desert climate, and she always missed the gentle English rain. Christine and Charles had four children: John
(1947), James (1948), Carolyn (1950), and Thomas (1957). When their children began school, Charles became deeply
involved in Boy Scouts. Christine soon became a Cub Scout Den Mother, joined the Fruitdale PTA, and, a few years later,
shared her many skills and hobbies with the neighborhood girls as a 4-H Leader. Christine knitted ceaselessly from age
5 until her death. She was an avid gardener; sewed like a pro; enjoyed baking and cooking; loved to travel; and was
devoted to her family near and far.
Charles passed away on July 14, 1984, and Christine never remarried. Facing some serious health challenges throughout
her life, Christine determinedly overcame them and carried on. Having outlived her parents by 54 years and all her
siblings by at least 10 years, you might say she was a grasper of life. Christine passed away on May 14th, 2019, at the age
of 94.
Christine is survived by her 4 children and their spouses, 7 grandchildren and their spouses, and 5 great-grandchildren.
She is also survived by 1 nephew and 6 nieces, and their families across the U.S. and in England.
Christine will be interred on June 29, 2019 beside her beloved Charles at Arvada Cemetery, 5581 Independence St.,
Arvada, 80002. Donations, rather than flowers, may be sent to:
Sue Rodgers-Anschutz Eye Center
Attention - Macular Degeneration Research
UC Health
1675 Aurora, CO 80045
For further information, you may contact: carolyn@tibbles.org