On Friday, July 8, 2011, Richard Warren Mills, 87, of Oak Harbor, joined his wife, Wava, to dance in heaven. He passed away peacefully in his Oak Harbor home after suffering a broken hip in March.

Born July 23, 1923, in Decatur, Ind., he was the fourth child of a teacher and postmaster, Oliver P. Mills. His mother died while he was serving with the U.S. Army in World War II from 1941 to 1945, running supply trains as a brakeman in Germany and Czechoslovakia. In 1944 he developed a pen pal relationship with a nurse, Wava Routsong, from northern Indiana through his sister, Margaret, also a registered nurse. He married Wava in 1946 in Decatur, Ind., at the United Methodist Church where he was a member.

Dick always filled his life with activity. As a high school student he was the school’s top runner, top tennis player, and the one with the fastest in typing speed. It is no wonder that after moving to Washington in 1983, he obtained his Silver Life Master status in duplicate bridge. He loved his Anacortes, Oak Harbor and senior center bridge clubs where everyone wanted to be his partner. He was considered “the mentor” to those who said he was “the best bridge player they had ever met.”

His bridge playing began in Fort Wayne, Ind., perfecting the game with co-workers of the Pennsylvania Railroad where he continued to work until 1983, fulfilling 42 years as a brakeman and conductor with the Penn. RR, Conrail and Amtrak. He had vowed to work not a day past 60. He had grandsons to play with in Oak Harbor.

Richard and Wava had three children, born in 1948, 1952 and 1960.

He instilled the love of travel to them, taking them to every corner of the U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska.

They loved visiting the national parks, from Yellowstone in 1962 to Glacier National Park in 2009. After his wife died in 1990, he was satisfied to stay close to home except for occasional trips to Arizona to his daughter’s and for poker games in Las Vegas with his son.

Richard was well known for his sense of humor. Even during the last three months of life he would entertain visitors with comical songs, poems and jokes. He would light up when the hospice team visited and send them away chuckling.

He is survived by his daughter, Susan Eloph (Harris) of Oak Harbor; daughter, Sandra Mills of Goodyear, Ariz.; son, Raymond Mills of Tustin, Calif.; grandsons Tom Eloph in Honolulu and John Eloph (Bobbe) of Bremerton; and seven-year-old great-grandson, Ray Harris Eloph, whom Richard adored; 16 nieces and nephews and one sister-in-law, Ruth Notestine, of South Bend Ind. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Robert and Charles, and sister, Margaret.

Richard’s family expresses appreciation to the Whidbey General Hospital ER staff, the staff of St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham and the team from Hospice of the Northwest, for their diligent care.

A memorial gathering will be held in the family home on Saturday, July 23 (Richard’s 88th birthday), from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Arrangements are under the care of MedCure, according to Richard’s wishes, for medical research. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of the Northwest, www.hospicenw.org.