Deborah Mills

Deborah Mills passed away in the early morning of Feb. 15th in Corvallis OR.
She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on Jan 7, 1928 to Roger and Vida Mills.
She grew up on First Cliff in Scituate, MA sailing her beloved Wood Pussy catboat and helping her father crew his wooden sloop the Vida. She was a 1946 graduate of Wellesley High School.
In 1953 she Married Donald Chisholm Hagar, and they raised five children in Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
As a young wife and mother, she moved with husband Don across the country to Salyer, California in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, where Don pursued a career in wildlife biology.
Wherever she landed, she quickly engaged the neighbors and local community with her lively spirit and sense of humor. She was an imaginative and fun Brownie troop and Girl Scout leader, creating badges as well as adventures for her daughters and local girls. She and her husband Don enjoyed Square Dancing, and she stepped out in style in outfits she made herself. A lifelong lover and protector of animals, she nurtured and taught her children to care for creatures, from dime-store turtles, who lived for decades and survived cross country moves, to an orphaned fox and wild crows.
She received her LPN and worked briefly as a nurse in New Berlin, Wisconsin before moving to Earlysville, VA in 1978. There she married navy veteran Billy Cottrell, and became the one-woman animal rescue league of Kent’s Store, Virginia.
She moved from Virginia to Oregon in August 1992 where her daughter Joan was studying to be a forest ecologist, at Oregon State University. She divided 10 rescue dogs between 2 land rovers and drove cross country, accompanied by her niece Nancy, Nancy’s partner Allie, daughter Joan and son Jeff.
After landing in Oregon, she bought a house on Davidson Road in Independence, surrounded by oak trees, with a view of the Coast Range across the pasture to the west and the Cascades to the east. She remained active to age 90 and would get up early every morning to feed her herd of Katahdin hair sheep. She took a daily mile-long walk, and enjoyed visiting neighbors and tending her garden. She was a dedicated tutor and beloved by local Spanish-speaking families. She delighted in attending their birthdays, weddings and citizenship ceremonies and celebrating whenever one of her students obtained their GED.
In May of 1998. she married writer and retired accountant Fred Swain and together they enjoyed exploring locally as well adventuring throughout the beautiful state of Oregon.
In July 2017 she moved into Independent Living at the Regent in Corvallis. In November of 2019, after a fall, she relocated to the Conifer House in Corvallis where her friendliness, humor and wit made her a favorite of the staff and residents.
She leaves children Jennifer Hagar of Salem OR, Jeffery Hagar of Richmond CA, Judy Haegerl of Cottage Grove, Oregon, Joan Hagar and Jarita Acosta of Corvallis OR and ex-husband Donald Chisholm Hagar of Corvallis Oregon, as well as five grandchildren: Joaquin Acosta, Alex Chaney, Nick Chaney, Ben Haegerl and Bea Haegerl.
She was predeceased by brothers Richard Mills and Albert Earnest (Mike) Mills.
A gathering to celebrate her life will be held on Sunday, August 8, 2021 at 11 am at Hilltop Cemetery, Independence, Oregon.
Donations may be made in her memory, to The Willamette Humane Society, Defenders of Wildlife and Farm Sanctuary.