Millicent Davis Oliver

By | August 26, 2017

Millicent “Millie” Davis Oliver went to be with the Lord on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 surrounded by her family and best friends. She was born on Feb. 10, 1941, in Columbus at the Old White Cross Hospital, known today as Riverside Methodist Hospital. She was born the only child of Charles B. And Mary Wood Davis. She always said she was so fortunate to have such a wonderful childhood because she had the best parents in the world and a wonderful, loving grandmother. One of Millie’s favorite memories of high school was organizing a skip party at her house when she was a senior, which her (School Board President) father did not know about until later. Millie always laughed about that.

She graduated from Jackson High School in 1959. She really wanted to attend Ohio State University after high school, but her parents thought it was too large for a young lady so, they sent her instead to Ohio University in Athens where she was president of her dormitory. She later transferred to Ohio State where she graduated with a major in English and a minor in Psychology, thinking she needed a degree more suited to the job market; she then returned to OSU and got a second Bachelor of Science degree in Education. She taught two years in Reynoldsburg, Ohio where she was head of the English Department and also did guidance counseling.

She was married to Larry Oliver in 1962. They had two children, Charles Davis Oliver and Allison Oliver. She helped with Bible school every summer while growing up. She was president of the Covenant Presbyterian nursery school board. When her husband was tragically killed in an auto accident she returned to Jackson. When she moved the kids to Jackson she told them if they did anything wrong she would know about it before they got home, which seems to sum up the difference between big city life and a small town such as Jackson.

She served on the academic committee at the high school and was a member of the soccer board when soccer was first brought to Jackson. Millie also enjoyed assisting in running the track meets at Jackson High School. She worked at her dad’s furniture store when he passed away. When her son graduated from college she began working for him as a title agent, a closing agent, and eventually on the staff at his financial planning firm.

Millie loved Florida and said, “God put me in Jackson, when I should have been in Florida!” After a period of illness, she moved to an assisted living facility in Florida and later to one in North Carolina before coming to Holzer Assisted Living to be near her daughter Allison, in Jackson. Allison works as a registered nurse in Chillicothe.

Millie is survived by her son, Charles Davis Oliver (Leanna), and her daughter, Allison Oliver. Millie has four grandsons she was so proud of and they were so special to her: Davis Avery Oliver, Charles Jacob Penix, Drake Bryant Oliver, and Andrew Oliver Dempsey.

Millie said, “Thank God for boys because the Lord knew I couldn’t do hair!”

In her last years of life Millie enjoyed journaling and corresponding with friends and family. She was blessed to frequently enjoy the company of her family and her best friends, Joanna Congrove and Janie Karl.

Hers was a life well lived.

Calling hours will be held on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Lewis & Gillum Funeral Home of Jackson. Funeral services will immediately follow at 12 p.m. at the funeral home with Janie Karl officiating. Burial will follow at Fairmount Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.lewisgilllum.com