Gippsland Identity Dispensed Help And Cheer To All

The Age

Friday February 10, 2006

By ROSLYN MILLS

CHARLES OSMOND MILLS, MAN OF THE PEOPLE, 3-9-1927 - 26-12-2005

CHARLES "Ossie" Mills, a singular Gippsland figure, has died while on holiday in New Zealand from complications following earlier surgery.

Os, who was born in Trafalgar, one of four sons of Charles and Florence Mills, worked as a builder, hardware salesman, furniture maker and antique shop proprietor. He was a co-founder of the Trafalgar Community Bank after several major banks closed their doors, fiercely supported local businesses and resisted international franchises.

Until recently, he delivered meals-on-wheels and supported fund-raising for Andrews House accommodation for the elderly through the Trafalgar Opportunity Shop. In the 1960s he fought to fluoridate Trafalgar water; coincidentally this month fluoridation was given the go-ahead by Gippsland Water. He was a man ahead of his time.

A lifelong Collingwood supporter, Os also enjoyed fly fishing, had a great interest in World War I, studied for his HSC in later life and learnt Spanish before visiting his daughter Shelley in Barcelona. He even began playing the piano. He also loved nature and the bush, and delighted in caring for a sick magpie and welcomed "Nathan", a native owl, as a regular visitor to his garden. A pet project was the establishment of the Uralla Nature Reserve.

Os had a strong sense of social justice and was an ALP member and party worker all his life. Above all, he was a people person and was known to everyone in Trafalgar, always stopping for a chat, a joke, a fishing lesson or advice about building problems or, more recently, discussing Nietzsche and Kant.

He was a devoted father and grandfather, never too tired to kick a footy with grandson Nicolas.

Roslyn Mills is Charles' daughter.

© 2006 The Age

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