Roberta Arrowsmith Mills

Middletown, NY

Roberta Arrowsmith Mills, 1925-2005, was a prominent civic leader and wife of the first County Executive of Orange County, NY.

The daughter of the late William Walter and Dorothy Ayres Arrowsmith, she was born on July 17, 1925 in South Orange, NJ.

Roberta moved with her family to Wellesley Hills, MA in 1932, where she attended Dana Hall lower school. Her family later moved to Mandarin, outside of Jacksonville, Fla, where she became the Vice President of her class and Prom Queen at the Bowles Military Academy. Upon graduation, she received the good Citizen Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution. She attended Bryn Mawr College, and during the summer of 1943, she held a wartime job with the St. John´s shipyard. Roberta played on the shipyard´s softball team and was crowned Miss Florida Softball of 1943. On June 15, 1945, she married Louis Van Orden Mills, former Middletown NY Mayor and Orange County NY’s first County Executive. After her marriage, she graduated from Columbia College, School of General Studies 1966. Mrs. Mills continued to be active in athletics throughout her life; she competed for two college swimming teams and swam daily until her recent illness. Cheech Mills also successfully competed in ladies´ singles and mixed doubles tennis tournaments in Orange County, Florida and Cape Cod. She has won or been finalist in several past county championships.

Mrs. Mills has served as President of the Middletown Girl Scout Council, President of the Orange County NY Citizens Foundation, President and longtime member of the Garden Club of Orange County. She was an original member of the Park Commission of Orange County, and was a former member of the Thrall Library Board in Middletown.

A statement from longtime friend, Harriet Bloom reads:

“Roberta never sought the limelight for all she did.”

Roberta is the mother of Texas Tech Dept of Landscape Architecture Professor Louis V. Mills Jr. (2001-2017) and John S. Mills.

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Contact

Alex Yack
Alex.Yack@ttu.edu
Senior Director of Development
806.742.2802

Matt Williams
matt.williams@ttu.edu
Director of Development
806.742.2802

Shelbey Havens
shelbey.havens@ttu.edu
Assistant Director of Development
806.834.1108