Lucille (Goodsell) Milliken

Lucille Margaret Milliken, 92, of Granger died Thursday, February 26th after a brief illness.  Lucille was born January 22, 1934 in South Bend to the late Lillian and Bennett Goodsell and was a lifetime area resident.

Lucille and Lloyd were married on October 13th, 1950 and their marriage was an amazing 68 years long! They spent their first years of marriage  at Fort Knox, KY where Lloyd was stationed during the Korean War and had their 1st child, Brenda. They were inseparable in life, working, parenting, and traveling together and taking care of each other in sickness and health.

Surviving are all 4 children, including two daughters, Brenda L. Milliken of South Bend and Rhonda J. Miller of Valdosta, GA;  two sons, Bruce A. Milliken, The Villages FL and Randy L. Milliken (Michelle) of Lafayette, IN; eight grandchildren, Brian Cutaia (Autumn), Brett (Rachel), Beau (Anna), and Blake (Audra) Milliken, Andrew (Megan) and David Pawlowski, and Richard and Hannah Milliken; and eight great-grandchildren.

After moving back to South Bend, they started their “American Dream”  business together which was called Michiana Midget Motors in 1959 out of their garage.   Their company sold small engine products ranging from go-karts, mini-bikes and motorcycles. Lucille and Lloyd worked hand-in-hand to build a very successful business for 40 years.  Lucille's favorite job was doing  the UPS shipments for years, back in the warehouse where she kept all the employees in line.

After selling, they were able to enjoy traveling across the globe with Edgerton Tours to many unique destinations, marveling at all they could see.  Lucille was simple in life and truly appreciated how 2 people from humble beginnings could have such an amazing life.

Her favorite pastime was reading and going to the library for all her new books.  She would check out 12 at a time and read them all, even into her 90’s. James Patterson and Janet Evanovich were two of her favorite authors. She was searching for knowledge all of her time and worked hard to stay up with current news stories.  She had a simple way of looking at her life as her quote was “She was here and now she’s gone”, that was her for sure.

Gathering of friends and family will be held at 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 5th in the Palmer Family Funeral Home North, 17033 Cleveland Rd.  In lieu of flowers the family requests that contributions in Lucille’s name be made to the Hospice Foundation, 501 Comfort Place, Mishawaka, IN, 46545 foundationforhospice.org  Family and friends may leave email condolences at https://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Lucille-Milliken 

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