Millie has been a member of St Luke’s Church since she was 7 years old. Her mother died when she was just 2 years old. She lived with her father who was a Roman Catholic. He told her she could choose the church that she wanted to attend. One day Millie met up with Father Harding and that was the beginning of her long-term commitment to St. Luke’s. After Sunday school, she and two or three other children would hop into "Pop" Harding’s car and go to Angelroth’s house. They had a chapel in their basement and would have services there. The children would help with the singing. In her freshman year of high school, Millie lived with the Hardings to help serve the guests who came for the Thursday evening service and meal.
Millie met her husband Bob at the Eagle’s club where dances were held on the weekends. I asked Millie if it was love at first sight. She said, "HA!" But Bob and Millie have been married for 66 years and have 3 children, 10 grandchildren and 10 great -grandchildren.
When their children were little, they would attend Sunday school and Millie would kind of "just hang around" there. One day Father Harding mentioned that the junior choir director had moved out East and he asked if she would be willing to help with the junior choir for a few weeks; there were three children in the choir. Eleven years later, Millie was still directing the junior choir and it had grown from three children to forty-four children. Their first choir robes were made out of bed sheets that the members of the church donated and that some ladies helped Millie to sew. Later on red choir robes were donated. Millie remembers how Canon John Goeb always read the Christmas pageant and that the junior choir would act it out. Of her time with the junior choir Millie says simply: "That was fun."
Along with junior choir, Millie taught Sunday school and started the junior young people’s society as a social outlet for the young members of the church. And if that were not enough, Father Harding volunteered her house for the meeting place for the cub scouts.
Millie had one very important memory to share. Ruth Lenz’s mother, Mrs. Pelkofer, as she was known by Millie, realized that Millie had no mother so she was always there for her; whenever there would be a mother-daughter event Mrs. Pelkofer was right by her side.
I asked Millie and Bob what was the secret of their marriage. Millie immediately said: "Love." Bob took a moment and then said, "A good wife." St. Luke’s is indeed blessed to have Bob and Millie as members.