Avis R. Millett

Avis R. Millett of Ocala, Florida and Winthrop, Maine, passed away at the age of 99. She was born in Winthrop on April 11, 1926, the daughter of Carl and Mina (Howe) Richards. A lifelong Mainer at heart, she attended East Winthrop Elementary School and graduated from Winthrop High School in 1943. She went on to attend Gates Business School in Augusta and built a successful career as an accountant, working first for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and later for the State of Maine, where she retired from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

During her retirement, Avis and her first husband, John P. Arata, spent many happy years at their cottage on Lake Maranacook. Together they enjoyed boating, waterskiing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, and traveling in their RV with the Good Sam Club and Winnebago-Itasca Travelers. In 2006 she married a high school classmate, Paul R. Millett. The couple moved permanently to Ocala, Florida in 2009, where they shared a joyful life together until Paul’s death in 2012.

Avis was an active member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and the Maine Chapter 89, the Kennebec Historical Society, the Maine Old Cemetery Association, the North Central Florida Post Polio Support Group, and served as an associate member of the Battle of the Bulge organization. She was also a longtime member of the Southwest Christian Church of Ocala.

She was predeceased by her husbands, John P. Arata and Paul R. Millett; her parents; brothers Joseph and Lloyd Richards; sisters Virginia R. Jones and Glenis R. Davis; stepsons Ryan J. Arata and Carl G. Arata; stepdaughters Violette Bernier and Joyce A. Perry and her husband William; and niece Judith Jones Norberg Serra. She is survived by her stepson, LTC(R) Richard G. Millett and his wife Jill; stepdaughter Julie M. Clark and her husband Ronald Sr.; and nephews Barry L. Jones and his wife Sue, John A. Davis and his wife Celeste, and Rev. Joseph R. Davis and his wife Gail.