Mildred Gordy

Mildred Hart began her celebration of life on October 13, 1924, the daughter of Carrie Mel and Augusta Hart. She was a happy child who enjoyed a home filled with the love of a doting mother, a best friend and sister, Elizabeth McGriff, whom preceded her in death, and a stepfather whom spoiled her rotten. She embraced God at an early age, in the late Elder Winan's church, on Detroit's east side.

"Mil" or "Millie," as she was affectionately called by the many family and friends, who adored her, was a product of the Detroit Public School System and attended Northeastern High School and for the last thirty years, she lived in the city of Troy, Michigan. Always blazing the trails and setting the standard high, Millie was one of very few African American civilians to at the time hold a classified secret clearance with the U.S. Army's Ordinance Tank Automotive Command, retiring in the role of Supervisor following a career that expanded beyond 30 years.

In 1942, two great Detroit families were united in matrimony when Mildred married Fuller Berry Gordy, following an introduction at a wedding where her cousin David Lemon married Fuller's cousin, Lula. It was a love match and God blessed them with one daughter, Iris, who brought her mother immeasurable joy as they enjoyed a unique and impenetrable close friendship.

Always loyal, always committed to family, Millie became a surrogate mother for her sister's three teenagers, when Elizabeth died in the late fifties. Adults now, they credit their "Aunt Mil" with guiding them throughout their lives.

Millie enjoyed travel and often cruised to the Caribbean, visiting Bermuda, the Bahamas and Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. and would travel to Los Angeles to enjoy visits with her daughter. As much as she loved to travel, she also loved the arts and was adamant about education. She insisted her grand's and great-grand's hang on to their dreams and get a good education.

Mildred was known for her honest, straightforward, practical approach to life and never mixed or minced words. People trusted her to say what she meant and mean what she said. Her brother-in-law, music mogul Berry Gordy credits her for allowing him, in his adolescence, to just be himself, never holding him in judgment.

Millie had a great sense of humor and embraced simple philosophies that uncomplicated her views on life and death, philosophies that succeeded in illustrating the innate wisdom that we have come to appreciate about her -- On Life: "You have to look out for #1, before you can save #2!" ; On Death: "None of us is getting out alive!"

Fiercely independent and rarely allowing anyone to do for her, Mildred loved her life in Michigan and was pretty determined to remain there in spite of the plans her family had for her to move to Los Angeles. She insisted she "did not want to be a burden to anyone." She loved being self-sufficient, driving herself around her beloved city of Troy until late last year and was often heard to say, "I don't want to bother anyone and I don't want anybody to bother me!" However, she reveled in the love and attention her family gladly showered upon her, a love so easy to extend to her because she was so generous and loving and kind and she never complained.

For so many reasons, she made an impact on the lives of everyone she touched — she was spiritual, she was special, she was the evidence of God's love. Her memory remains strong in our hearts and she leaves to celebrate her incredible legacy her daughter, Iris Gordy; grandchildren, Karla Gordy Bristol and William McGriff (Rayanne); great-granddaughters, Kiarra Brown and Morgan Ashley Brown; and a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives.