Virginia Holloway Mills
Virginia Holloway Mills, known to most as “Gin,” was born on August 5th 1925, and died due to pancreatic cancer on March 4th 2025. She is survived by her son, Stacey E. (Chuck) Mills, MD, her daughter-in-law, Linda Mills, two granddaughters, Elizabeth Mills, DPT (Adrian Flores) and Anne Mills, MD (Andrew Copland, MD), and four great grandchildren, Rowan, Hayden, Emmett, and Connor. She is pre-deceased by her husband of 53 years, Stacey McNeal Mills. For her near century on this planet, family was the center of her existence. She was incredibly close to both her parents and counted her mother as dearest friend and confidant for most of her life. She was dedicated to her husband throughout their shared life: when they were newlyweds and he was deployed to Europe and then the Pacific in World War II, she took a job as a bank teller until his return. After his death in 1997, her only romantic dalliances were literary flirtations with the leads from the many hundreds of romance novels she consumed over her years. Her daughter-in-law and granddaughters occasionally recommended wider reading fare, at which she would wrinkle her nose as if to say “Life is rough enough, I’ll take my stories, thanks!”
From the moment he was born, Gin took great pride in the accomplishments of her son, and as life went on, she extended the same to her two granddaughters and their partners. iPhones were a real boon for Gin because she could proudly brandish her family's latest images during her medical appointments, hair salon appointments, and lunches with friends. When a tree had fallen across her narrow rural driveway with a less than a 6-foot sliver of ground clearance, she charged her car beneath it rather than miss lunch with a friend.
Gin also derived immense joy from her great-grandchildren and relished nothing more than the raucous games of multi-generational Bingo that her daughter-in-law would arrange in Gin's sunny apartment. Prizes for all were necessary. She even let this most recent generation of little ones play with her precious tiny tea sets, a privilege never afforded to their parents!
In addition to her family, Gin felt tremendous warmth for the many individuals who helped in her care over the years. She was particularly fond of Dr. Barbara Post, her primary care doctor for many decades, as well as the physicians, nurses, and physical therapists who attended to her over numerous hospitalizations and rehabilitation stays at the University of Virginia and The Laurels. She also built friendships with the ladies who helped keep her apartment clean and helped Gin through Home Instead to manage her medical and personal appointments for many years of semi-independent living, even as a nonagenarian. Her family is extremely grateful to all these skilled and compassionate individuals for the time and care they invested in her.
Gin also took care of others however she could. She faithfully voted in every election, having worked at the polls in Hampton for many years and serving as chief officer of her election precinct. She was a meticulous quilter and with her mother made many gorgeous quilts.
Gin was an emphatic lover of Christmas. Each November she painstakingly converted her dwelling into a yuletide wonderland packed with festive figurines, seasonal music boxes, garlands of synthetic holly leaves, and cottony puffs of artificial snow. Around this time of year her mailbox also became home to a steady stream of mysterious objects from cable shopping networks, which she delighted in gifting: loved ones came to anticipate such oddities as flying drone toys, hybrid multi-tool/flashlights, and super-specialized kitchen implements. The holiday season evoked a childlike wonder in her, and she relished sharing it with those around her. In each year of her final decade she would remain adamant that it would not be her final Christmas, until this year. While she had always hoped to see one hundred, she had no designs on going much if any past that, and in the past months it was clear that her time was coming to a close. Gin lived out her days alongside her parents and husband in Hampton; then with her son and daughter-in-law in the wooded comforts of Ivy; and eventually with them in the bucolic views of Louisa County. She was always near to the ones she loved, and was always well cared for: what more could one have in this life?
In lieu of a funeral service, a celebration of life will be held with family this summer.