Floyd Mills

Floyd Robert Mills was born March 9, 1927, in Appleton, Minn., to Floyd and Josephine (Huzenga) Mills. A child of the Great Depression and Dirty Thirties, he had a Tom Sawyer childhood, running barefoot in the summer, fishing at the old millpond and following radio exploits of Captain Midnight, The Shadow and more.
Growing up he attended schools in Appleton, Minn.  While a student at Appleton High School, he also worked at The Appleton Press as a printer’s devil.  Completing high school in 1945, like so many others, he missed his graduation ceremony, departing immediately for the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Ill.
Experiencing the tender attentions of a WWII United States Navy boot camp, the day of graduation saw him contract a case of mumps for the second time of his life, delightfully documented in his graduation photo. Once recovered, he departed to join his ship, USS FELAND (APA-11), in the Pacific Theater of Operations, serving in combat in the Western Pacific, primarily in the waters of Luzon, Philippines.  Throughout his service he had typical sailor experiences, not the least of which was disrupting the San Francisco (Calif.) Mayor’s VJ Day Parade.
Completing active service in 1946, he returned home to begin his career in the railroad. Becoming a telegrapher with the Great Northern Railroad, he was soon assigned to its station in Watertown, S.D., where he also joined the South Dakota Army National Guard. A regular diner at the Eagle Café, he there met the love of his life, Norma Kathryn Schoppert, while managing the café.
Floyd and Norma wed April 12, 1951. Their three children—Mark, Dean and Kim — soon came of this union. Floyd proudly presided over his baby-boomer family in Watertown through the 1950s and early ’60s. And in 1964, the family moved to Huron, S.D., due to Floyd’s transfer to its Great Northern depot.
In Huron he continued to ride herd on his growing children, and with Norma, purchased the five-operator beauty shop that became the LaBeautique Salon. At one point they owned three beauty shops: the LaBeautique and Chalet salons in Huron and the LaBeautique Salon in Watertown—employing up to 35 people, with plans to open a beauty school. But with another of Floyd’s railroad transfers, those plans were shelved along with his National Guard service, and the family moved to Sioux City, Iowa.
Two years later, Floyd, Norma, and family returned to Huron, where Floyd became the last Agent-Telegrapher for its Burlington Northern Railroad station. Floyd and Norma continued running the LaBeautique Salon until they closed it in 2005.
During this time in Huron, Floyd and Norma began a new phase in their lives, joining the Congregationalist U.C.C. Church and completing the new Licensed Ministry program. They went on to take Advanced Theology training. After graduating, they became pastors to a small, vibrant congregation in Hetland, S.D., and a larger church in Alpena, S.D. They traveled 150 miles to serve these churches and others every Sunday.
While doing so, Floyd was tasked by the Burlington Northern Railway to close its Huron depot and numerous other small-town depots, thus ending an era and his 44-year railroad career.  He and Norma then moved to the “Limestone” region northwest of Custer, S.D.  There, Pastors Floyd and Norma continued their ministries in both the Edgemont (S.D.) Community Church and Pringle (S.D.) Methodist Church until finally retiring from the pulpit and “relaxing” at home life.
Floyd was a Master Mason, 32 Degree Mason, Knight Templar, Past Post Commander of The American Legion, member of The Veterans of Foreign Wars, and much more.  He loved his family, cared deeply for his relatives, neighbors and friends, longing for his beloved deceased wife Norma. He has answered his final roll call. His key is closed.
Floyd, of Custer, passed away Aug. 12, 2022, at Hot Springs S.D., VA Medical Center hospice. He was 95.
He was preceeded in death by his parents, Floyd and Josephine Mills; sister, Lorna Hayden; brothers-in-law, Donald Schoppert, Robert Schoppert, Henry Huber, Clarence Huber, Glenn Pickering and Lyle Waltner; and sisters-in-law, Violet Pickering and Fern Waltner.
He is survived by his sons, Mark A. Mills and Dean R. Mills, both of Custer; daughter, Kim Ileen Mills of Tucson, Ariz.; brother, Lee Mills of Robbinsdale, Minn.; brothers-in-law, Sherwin Schoppert of Marion, S.D. and Kenneth Hayden of Richland, Wash.; sisters-in-law, Sharon (Verlyn) Hauck of Menno, S.D. and Joan (Robert) Schoppert of Broomfield, Colo.; and many much-loved, nieces and nephews.
Memorial services are 11 a.m, Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Custer Community Church with the Rev. Mitch Barringer officiating. Masonic Rites and full military honors will be presented.
Committal services will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27 at Wolf Creek Congregational Cemetery near Menno.
A memorial has been designated in Floyd’s name.
Arrangements have been placed under the local direction of Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Custer.