Hazel S. Mills, 94, of Flat Lick, Kentucky, died peacefully at her home surrounded by her loving family on Tuesday, September 18, 2018. She was the daughter of the late James C. Smith and Betty Bingham Smith, born to them on March 21, 1924, in Flat Lick, Kentucky. She graduated from Knox Central High School where she played the clarinet in the band and fell in love with a tall and handsome Western Kentucky University basketball star named John P. Mills from Flat Lick. They were married on November 13, 1943, and were devoted to one another until his death in 1995.

During the early years of their marriage, they both worked in factories supporting the war effort, he on the line and she as a quality control supervisor. Factories had basketball teams and Hazel encouraged John to try out for their factory's team. He made the team and over several years played in Cleveland and Pittsburgh with her cheering from the sidelines. These Industrial Leagues had become the NBA by the time John was called back to work on his family's farm in Flat Lick in1947. John farmed and taught school and Hazel became a homemaker with four children.

In 1960, Hazel and John moved their family to Cincinnati where John went into his own business and Hazel continued to focus on the children. Through volunteering in their school she discovered her passion for community service. She went on to become a member of the Cincinnati Council of Parents and Teachers which sought to improve educational support and opportunities for children throughout the city. She also founded the Covedale Twins Club which provided information and resources to families, like her own, that had twins. When her children became older she sought employment where she could use the skills learned through her work in the home and as a volunteer outside the home. She worked at several social agencies. At Cincinnati Union Bethel, her favorite job, she was the founding director of a community action office in the neighborhood of Camp Washington. While there she was successful in getting companies to train and hire residents and worked with the city government and local businesses to improve transportation patterns, public playground facilities, and neighborhood amenities.

Hazel loved John, her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, other family and friends, a good time, nice clothes, shopping, Dean Martin, dancing the Charleston, making big family breakfasts with blackberries, Thelma's, Hamburger Hut, taking her grandchildren shopping at Walmart and teaching them to sew, connecting people and getting things done, determined but often working quietly and graciously in the background. These loves, personal traits and knowledge made her the center of her family and lead to her participation in many community activities when she and John returned to Flat Lick in 1977.

Hazel was a founding member of the East Knox Volunteer Fire Department and had a leading role in promoting tourism in Knox County, including the creation of the of the Daniel Boone Memorial Park in Flat Lick where the three frontier trails intersect: Warriors Path, Daniel Boone Trace, and the Wilderness Road. In recognition of her service to tourism in the county, the Tourism Commission named the gallery in the Tourism Center Hazel Mills Gallery. She has been a member, volunteer, officer or served on the board of the following organizations: Barbourville Garden Club, Younger Woman's Club of the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs, Red Hat Society, KCEOC, Knox County 4-H and Lend-A-Hand. She was also a strong personal advocate for many people and helped them advance in their careers or with personal challenges. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Barbourville.

Hazel was the beloved matriarch of her devoted family. She is survived by her four children and twelve grandchildren: Helen Mills and her husband Gary Tannenbaum of New York, NY, and their children Charles (Jackie), Kate, Isabelle (Carlos Sevilla); Brenda Rogers and her husband Will of Atlanta, GA, and their children Arlo (Carey), Mark (Jennifer), Lindsay Sego (Gene), Ben (Jenifer); Linda Seltzer and her husband Ben of St. Louis, MO, and their children David (Veronica Swain) and Rachel Leonard (Jake); and John P. Mills Jr. of Flat Lick, KY, and his children Corrine, Erika, and John III. She is also survived by twelve great grandchildren: Jack, Michele, Sam, Michael, Hazel Rose, Esther Jane, Eleanor, Eloise, Henry, Violet Nova, Beckett, and Eliot. Grandson Paul Mark Rogers and great grandson Ezra Sego, as well as her parents, brothers and sisters, preceded her in death.

The family would like to thank Kathy Grubb and Denise Grubb for their many years of compassionate care of our dear mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Funeral Services were conducted at the Hopper Funeral Home Chapel, Saturday, September 22, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. with Pastor Bill Hughes officiating. Friends were received at the Hopper Funeral Home Saturday at 12 noon until the funeral hour at 1:30 p.m. Internment was in the Barbourville Cemetery. Pallbearers were Hazel's grandchildren. Honorary pallbearers were Hazel's friends and other family. The Hazel Mills family has suggested that contributions may be made to Barbourville First United Methodist Church or to a scholarship fund in her name at Union College. Hopper Funeral Home was in charge of all arrangements.