Mildred "Millie" Grandelis

            Heaven opened its gate and Jesus standing there said, "Welcome Home."  Mildred "Millie" Grandelis , age 102, of Oil City, passed away surrounded by loved ones on Tuesday morning, February 14, 2023 at her residence. 

            Millie was born April 18, 1920 to Dewey and Susie (Fox) Fischer, the second child of five.  She grew up in a loving and caring family.  During a game at Cranberry High School, where she attended and was a cheerleader, she was introduced to her would-be husband by a fellow classmate, Ernie Grandelis, the younger brother of Albert Grandelis.  She graduated from Cranberry High School in 1938 and later attended Feller's Beauty School in Oil City.  Millie and Albert dated and later married on June 1, 1940. 

            During World War II, Millie followed her new husband to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, while he served in the Army Corp of Engineers.  When he was sent to serve in Belgium, France, and Germany, she returned home to Oil City to be with her family.  When the war ended and Albert returned home, they briefly lived in Franklin before returning to Oil City.  They built a house and brought their daughter, Suzanne into the world and to their family. 

            Millie had many interests alongside being a wife and a mother.  She had a flare for fashion and decorating her home.  She enjoyed cooking and baking, as well as golfing, painting, and sewing.  She was intelligent and gentle.  She had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh.  She was a devoted friend to anyone who met her, and was a very caring matriarch.

            She was an active member of Good Hope Lutheran Church and a member of the Hope Circle.  Millie enjoyed her travels that took her to Italy, Greece, Hawaii, Sweden, Alaska, Israel, and the Holy Land. 

            She is survived by her daughter, Suzanne Passauer and her husband William of Centreville, VA; her granddaughter, Kristin Hall and her husband Brian of Manassas, VA; and her great-grandchildren:  Alexa Hall of Front Royal, VA, Mia Whittaker and her husband Matthew of Fredericksburg, VA, and Mason Hall of Manassas, VA; and a great-great-grandchild, Bennet Whittaker. 

            Also surviving is her sister, Ann Ziegler of Oil City; a sister-in-law, Lorraine Grandelis of Franklin, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.  Millie had a lifelong friend, Helen Flinchbaugh King, who died twenty-five minutes before Millie died on the same day, Feb. 14, 2023. 

            Her husband, Albert, preceded her in death on May 25, 1993.  In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by an elder sister, Ruth Fischer Hughes Rea; younger brothers, Kenneth and Donald Fischer; brothers-in-law Maurice Hughes, Thomas Rea, Ernest Grandelis, and Norman Ziegler; nephews David Ziegler and Dewey Fischer; her mother-in-law, Virginia Grandelis; and other in-laws including Edith and Joe Leta, Betty Weimer Davis, Edward Weimer, Bob Davis, Henry Grandelis, Ernie and Shirley Grandelis, and Elaine and Vera Fischer. 

            Visitation will be held Friday (Feb. 17) from 4 - 7 p.m. in Hile-Best Funeral Home, 2781 Rte. 257 in Seneca.  A funeral service will be held Saturday (Feb. 18) at 11 a.m. in Good Hope Lutheran Church, 800 Moran Street in Oil City, with Rev. J. Michael Parsh, officiating. (Those attending, please meet at the church, there will be no viewing at the church).  Interment will be in Sunset Hill Memorial Gardens in Cranberry. 

            Memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army, 217 Sycamore St., Oil City PA  16301; the Cranberry Area Food Pantry, P.O. Box 446, Seneca, PA  16346; or to Good Hope Lutheran Church, 800 Moran St., Oil City PA  16301.

            To express online condolences to the family, please visit www.hilebest.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mildred "Millie" Grandelis, please visit our floral store.