Mildred (“Millie”) Ann (née Volk) Stein died on July 16, 2023, surrounded by family. Millie was born in Batesville, Indiana on February 19, 1947, to Ambrose John and Elizabeth Josephine (née Wesseler) Volk. She was the sixth out of eight children and is remembered by her siblings for her love of riding horses when she was growing up. She attended St. Maurice Grade School and New Point High School, graduating in 1965.
Millie married Joseph (“Joe”) Anthony Stein on September 5, 1966, at St. John the Evangelist church in Enochsburg, and he survives. They lived in Batesville, Indiana for two years and then bought their first eighty acre plot in Saltcreek Township, which became their home place. Millie worked for Hillenbrand Industries for a few years and then she and Joe worked together daily and built a thriving farming operation. Millie was very active on the farm including helping with farm management and bookkeeping. She was active in the ag community as part of the Decatur County Pork Producers and recognized by the Decatur County Extension Office for her outstanding community service.
Millie and Joe have two daughters who stayed close to home and provided them with a house full of grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were all very close to their Granny with the farm being operated by multiple generations. Millie loved her family to distraction and served as an anchor for her girls to build their families. She is survived by her daughters and their husbands who loved her like a second mother: Brenda Jo Stein-Simmonds (Scott) and Bonita (“Bonnie”) Sue Stein-Wietlisbach (Bill). She is survived by her grandchildren (in birth order): Lacey (Wietlisbach) (Kevin) McCallister, Amethyst (Simmonds) (John) Thackery, Lindsey (Wietlisbach) (Nick) Bedel, Corden Simmonds, Derek Wietlisbach, Dustin (Abigail née McCord) Wietlisbach, Jaydann Simmonds, Emerald Simmonds, and Alexandrite Simmonds. She also has five great-grandchildren: Elliott and Ridley Thackery, and Nathan, Whitley, and Isaiah Bedel. Millie was proud that all of her family has remained close by in the Greensburg area and kept the farm house busy on a daily basis.
Millie is also survived by her siblings Berniece Diekhoff, Eleanor (Alfred) Yager, Clara Meyer, Maurice (Paulette) Volk, Bert (Darlene) Volk, and Ann (Sam) Milligan; her in-laws Jim (Jeanie) Stein, Jane (George) Bohman, Janet (Bill) Deller, Edith Stein, and Esther (Jon) Winters, along with many nieces and nephews over three generations. She was preceded in death by her parents; Joe’s parents, Henrietta and Joe Stein, Sr.; her sister, Donna (Mike) Hoover; two brothers-in-law, and Carl Meyer and Alfred Diekhoff. She will be dearly missed by her nieces and nephews who will always remember staying at Aunt Mil’s for help with homework, 4-H, and general good times, including country music sing-alongs. She proudly hosted the family Christmas gathering at her home every year, drawing as many as 150 people over multiple generations. Several of her nieces noted that her Christmas (and Thanksgiving, and Easter) ham was wonderful and the aroma made Aunt Mil’s a happy place to visit for the holidays.
Millie was a fierce friend and is also survived by her good friends Emma Kay Walke, Sara Jane Wilson, Doris Jean Koenigkramer, Debbie Burkhart, Bev Knecht, and Gary and Lois Nobbe. She was also preceded in death by her dear friend, Vickie Scheele. Millie was even motherly in her friendships, being known in school as a confidant and problem solver.
Millie dedicated a good part of her life to kids in the community spending nearly fifty years as a 4-H leader and a dedicated supporter of North Decatur FFA. Millie was an active member of the St. Catherine of Siena (formerly St. John the Evangelist) parish as a CYO volleyball coach and operating a summer craft camp for children of her parish. She was also a softball coach, a member of the PTO and a volunteer teacher’s aide at New Point Elementary School. She was also active in her parish as a as a member of the Golden Bells Home Ec Club, CCD teacher, PCCW member, and Parish Council member. Millie served the community for twenty years as Saltcreek Township Trustee and was also very involved in various community activities including the New Point Volunteer Fire Department, Crackaway Daze, and the New Point School alumni gathering.
Family and friends will gather to pray the rosary at 3:30 pm on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at the Porter-Oliger-Pearson Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm also at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, July 21, 2023, at St. Catherine of Siena Parish-Enochsburg. An additional hour of visitation will be held prior to mass. Interment will be held in St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Enochsburg. Memorials may be made to St. Catherine of Siena Parish-Enochsburg., Right to Life, or Our Hospice of South Central Indiana. Online condolences can be made to the family at www.popfuneralhome.com.