Edna Mills

Like the underpinnings of the pier she worked so hard to save, Edna Mills was truly a pillar of Ventura County’s cultural heritage.

Her death last week, just four days after the dedication of the newly redesigned and rebuilt Ventura Pier that she and her husband, Don, helped to make possible, is a sad loss for the entire community.

Edna Mills was 63 when she succumbed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She had received the diagnosis just 10 months earlier.

She had been determined to see the completion of the new octagonal observation platform at the tip of the Ventura Pier, which was named Mills End in honor of Edna Mills and her husband Don. Both had championed the pier for years as founders of Pier Into the Future, a grass-roots group that raised nearly $800,000 to maintain the structure and fortify it against the brutal winter swells that have nearly destroyed it nine times in the past 128 years.

But the much-improved pier is only part of Edna Mills’ legacy.

In December the Ventura Chamber of Commerce named her Citizen of the Year for her 30 years of volunteer work.

As a volunteer with the Ventura County Fair from 1958 to 1987 and superintendent of the Home Arts department for the last seven years, she helped to establish many of the traditions that continue to make that event such a celebration of the county’s homespun heritage. When she was ousted from that position by a new fair manager with visions of modernization, scores of outraged fair volunteers rallied to her defense.

Born Edna Bauer, she attended Ventura College and planned to attend law school--until she met Don Mills. At the 40th reunion of the Class of ’55 she told The Times, “He didn’t want a working wife and that was fine with me. That was 38 years ago and I’m still happily married . . . to the same guy!”

Perhaps she never became a lawyer or earned a steady paycheck but Edna Mills certainly wasn’t afraid of work. Her dedication and passion made Ventura County a better place. On behalf of the entire community we offer admiration and gratitude.