Joan Mills was a career educator who taught her children -- and her grandchildren -- how to read, write and do arithmetic at an early age.
According to her son, Jeremy, she was the reason he was a math wizard in elementary school, able to subtract, add and multiply quicker than most classmates.
"She was always teaching our kids, working with them, " said Mr. Mills of Dallas. "Our kids are fairly advanced because of her teaching them how to read, do addition and subtraction. She worked with us constantly. She trained us."
Peter Mills, a son from Marietta, remembers how his mother used flash cards that contained numbers and words to instruct him when he was young.
"She was firm and nice at the same time," he said. "She was definitely dedicated to her job and strove for excellence."
Dr. Joan C. McCord Mills was principal of Powers Ferry Elementary School and had retired at the end of this term. The educator had looked forward to travel and time with her grandchildren, but died on June 5 from complications of kidney failure and other issues at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. She was 64. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. June 27 in the chapel of Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta.
Dr. Mills was born in Boston and raised in Minneapolis, and she taught in the Minnesota city's public schools before moving to Atlanta nearly 30 years ago. She was a teacher at Marietta's Rocky Mount Elementary and became an assistant principal at Mableton's Sky View Elementary. She had been principal at Powers Ferry Elementary for the past 10 years.
"She had a professional goal that was to create an environment of learning and personal growth for students and her teachers," said Sarah Evans, a daughter in San Diego. "That was her mission statement."
This educator earned degrees at the University of Minnesota, Georgia State University and Samford University, receiving her Ph.D in education five years ago at the latter.
"She didn't stop educating herself, and she definitely instilled that in me," Jeremy Mills said. "I am continually going to school and reading books to become more educated. We knew it was important to go to school."
Additional survivors include sisters Pam Callinan, Chicki Tucker and Beth Williams, all of Minneapolis, Minn., and five grandchildren.
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