ARDIS ‘RD’ MYRLE SCHILLING OPPEN MILLAGE, departed us on Christmas Eve, in the year of Our Lord, 2004. A family’s love near & far surrounding an extraordinary woman as a Calm stilled the home of a longtime Alger, WA resident.
On December 30, 1935 in Weippe, Idaho, a tiny bundle of joy, Ardis Myrle Schilling was born to Albert & Mary Voss Schilling and began her life journey as a nurturing and loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother and lifelong friend to one and all that graciously entered her realm. Being the fifth of eleven children, her Love knew NO boundaries. Often thought of as a surrogate mother by her siblings and their offspring she was and is a favorite among those who were around her.
On December 23, 1952 she was united in marriage to Dick ‘MD’ Oppen, bringing about a love freely given back by their four children, Jean McMahan, Dick Oppen, Rose Lauzier and Rick Oppen. Ardis loved fishing, camping, dancing and spending quality time with her family. After her first husband, Dick Oppen died in 1981 in a jeeping accident, God granted her a second love, John Millage, whom she readily married on November 29, 1985, sharing a love as promising and unconditional as her first.
‘Rd’ retired from Boeing on January 1, 1991, allowing them to spend more time with family, traveling during the winter months to see family in Arizona and making stops in Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington in the spring on their way home to Alger.
Rd is survived by her dedicated husband, John, who was by her side as she peacefully passed away. Her children, Jean, Dick, Rose and Rick. Her step-children, Mike Hagg, Lisa Tomlinson, Tim Millage and Shannon Millage and numerous grand and great-grandchildren. Her brothers, Ervin & August Schilling; her sisters, Ruth Bates, Christa Ladd, Gladys Morden, Janice Byrnes and Darlene Marriott and numerous nieces and nephews. She will be missed by all of her brothers and sisters-in-law of the Schilling, Oppen and Millage family lines, including all that had the opportunity to call her a friend. The peaceful knowledge that she is not alone but laughing, fishing and camping once again with her parents, first husband Dick, sisters Inez Betz and Joyce Crooks and brother, Albert Lee Schilling, among other departed loved ones can only bring a smile to those that loved and cherished Ardis Myrle Schilling Oppen Millage.
Funeral services for RD will be held on Thursday December 30, 2004 at 1:00 PM at Lemley Chapel in Sedro-Woolley, WA. Pastor Ron Schenk of the Lyman Baptist Church officiating. Interment will follow at the Greenhills Cemetery in Burlington.