Lois McMillan, parks and rec worker, dies
Burbank resident Lois C. McMillan, who worked for many years in the Burbank Park and Recreation Department, died on Jan. 16, 2016, after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 91 years old.
Born in Grand Forks, N.D., to Benjamin E. McBain and Cora G. Evans, she grew up in Walla Walla, Wash., with her mother, a sister and three brothers.
She met her future husband Lt. John C. “Jack” McMillan when her sister found she had two dates the same night, according to family members. John McMillan was a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator and received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After high school, Lois McMillan worked for the local newspaper. She later attended the Western Union College in Santa Cruz and worked at the Walla Walla office as an operator.
After the war, John McMillan returned to Seattle, but always remembered the girl he met in Walla Walla, according to family members. He called her up and asked her to marry him. She said “yes” and got on a train to Seattle, and they were married after only knowing each other a total of 11 days, family members said.
Married in 1946, they were together until John McMillan’s death in 1982. John McMillan was a salesman and, in 1961, he took a job with Alcoa Aluminum and they moved to Burbank with sons, Scott and Richard. In 1970, John McMillan and his son Richard opened the Buggy Bunker, a Volkswagen parts and repair shop, where Lois McMillan helped with bookkeeping.
In 1965, Lois McMillan began working for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department as a recreation leader. She taught various classes for adults and kids, from macramé to resin art to making Santas out of bleach bottles.
In the 1960s, she taught decorum and hospitality to young women, which included everything from table manners to cake decorating.
In addition, she taught Tiny Tot classes, where she was known as “Miss Lois” to hundreds of Burbank preschoolers.
During her time working with the parks and recreation department, she worked at the Verdugo, McCambridge and Olive recreation centers.
After 23 years, she retired in 1988 and began volunteering at Roosevelt Elementary School, where her granddaughters were students. In 1992, she was honored with the city of Burbank Mayor’s Commendation as an Outstanding Senior Volunteer.
During her retirement, she became an avid amateur genealogist and enjoyed researching her family history. She was a volunteer at the Burbank Family History Center even though she was not Mormon. She also became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She is survived by her son Scott and daughter-in-law Katherine of Staunton, Va., and son Richard and daughter-in-law Cheryl of Burbank; brother, Jerry McBain of Walla Walla, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
There will be a “Celebration of Life” and tree planting in honor of Lois McMillan at noon on Friday at Verdugo Park, Burbank. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Assn.
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Mark Kellam, mark.kellam@latimes.com
Twitter: @LAMarkKellam
