Matilda Estella Heinz Milich
Matilda Estella Heinz Milich, just two days shy of her 101st birthday, went to spend eternity with her Lord on July 22, 2019, with her family by her side.
Known as “Tillie” to all who knew her, she was born on July 24, 1918, in McKees Rocks, to Joseph and Pearl (Szwec) Heinz, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1909.
As a child, her family moved to a dairy farm in Butler. She told many stories about growing up on the farm, such as her mom riding into town on her horse-drawn buggy to sell goods, and bringing back a treat of circus peanut candy for the family. She walked a couple of miles each way to a one-room schoolhouse on Benbrook Road.
When she was a teenager, she loved to square dance. It was at a dance at Alameda Park that she met Michael “Mitz” Milich on Labor Day in 1935. They were married on Feb. 1, 1936.
Tillie worked on the family farm, Heinz Dairy, and delivered milk all over Butler with her sisters. During World War II, she worked at Armco as a wiggletail follower to help load steel. When Mitz returned from the Pacific, they bought the Duffy Farm and lived in the original log house on the farm until they were able to build a new house and start a family.
Her cooking was legendary and pierogi, halupki and nalesniki were her ethnic specialties. For many years, she planted large vegetable and flower gardens.
Tillie loved to feed and watch songbirds and hummingbirds and looked forward to the monarch butterflies every summer. She loved corn on the cob, a good hot dog, a glass of beer or wine, and looking at the full moon.
Tillie loved to walk and placed first in her age group in 1997 at the Butler 2 Mile Road Race at the age of 79. She enjoyed going to auctions, garage sales and flea markets. She also loved to travel, having gone to Germany, Austria, South Korea and many organized bus trips.
Tillie was a member of St. Fidelis Roman Catholic Church, the Christian Mothers Guild, Highfield Community Hall Ladies Auxiliary, American Legion Auxiliary 778 and Tanglewood Center.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1995; her daughter, Marsha, in 2015; and four sisters and two brothers.
Tillie leaves behind to cherish her memory her daughter, Emily Milich-Franusich and her husband, Mike, with whom she made her home for the past seven years; and her son, Preston Milich and his wife, Linda.
She also leaves behind her grandchildren, Mary Grace Franusich, Michael Franusich, Michael Rose and his wife, Monica, Selena McMichael and her husband, Chris, along with their children, Amelia and Joseph McMichael; and several nieces and nephews.
There are also three furry friends that will miss her dearly.
MILICH — A celebration of life for Matilda Estella “Tillie” Milich, who died Monday, July 22, 2019, will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at the American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora. We plan to have a monarch butterfly release.Memorial donations can be made to the Butler County Humane Society.
