Mavis Lee Stinson Miller went to be with the Lord just before dawn last Saturday morning, December 09, 2017. Mavis was born, August 28, 1931, in Lakeland, Florida to Melba and Barney D. Stinson. She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, T. Wainwright Miller, Jr. and their son, T. Wainwright Miller, III.
The youngest of three children, Mavis was introduced to her husband-to-be, T. Wainwright Miller, Jr., on a blind date, December 05, 1952, and after a whirlwind courtship, they were married twenty days later Christmas Day.
Mavis spent the first few years of married life moving from Florida to Montana and back to Florida to accompany Wayne in his engineering career. While living in Vero Beach, she gave birth to Wayne III, and became a full-time mother. The Millers moved to Fort Myers in 1956, where Wayne established the Lee County Mosquito Control District. Over the 38 years of his leadership, the District evolved into the largest single county mosquito control program in the world.
Wayne and Mavis joined First Baptist Church of Fort Myers on their first Sunday in Fort Myers. Mavis has served her church in many capacities, including long-time service as a member of the Stewardship Committee. She also worked in Rotary Ann, which had been for many years the female counterpart of the Rotary Club of Fort Myers.
After young Wayne was graduated from Fort Myers High School, Mavis took courses to enable her to establish a career in real estate. She first obtained her real estate broker’s license and then her GRI (graduate of the Realtor’s Institute). During the late 1970s, she worked as a real estate agent for the legendary Jim Newton, selling condominiums at what is now Pointe Royale in downtown Fort Myers.
For many years, Mavis served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the John E. and Aliese Price Foundation and as a Trustee of the Edison State College Foundation, where she was also awarded a life membership. In 1994, together with the late Mary Jo Sanders and the late Ellie Newton, she was honored with the Clara Barton Humanitarian Award by the Lee County Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 2012, the Pace Center for Girls of Lee County named Mavis as a Grande Dame of Fort Myers. And in 2015, the president of Georgia Tech University, G.P. Paterson, visited the Miller home in Fort Myers and inducted Mavis and Wayne into the Hill Society at Georgia Tech. At the time of her death, Mavis was a member of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way of Lee County, the Mina Edison Society of Edison State College, and the Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders of the American Red Cross.
Mavis is survived by her sister, Lavinia Wilson; brother William (Bill) Stinson…his wife, Jean, and their sons, Ronnie Stinson, Ricky (Penny) Stinson, and Randy (Karrie) Stinson; and niece, Dianne Wilson…all of Lakeland, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Hospice or the Price Foundation.
A celebration of Mavis’s life is scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 1:00 PM, at the City Gate Ministries church (formerly the First Baptist Church of Fort Myers) at Second and Jackson Streets, in downtown Fort Myers. Dr. Winford L. Hendrix will lead the service.
Please visit www.harvey-engelhardt.com to share a memory or condolence.

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