Alison Millis

Longtime Orient resident Alison Millis died Feb. 21, 2016. 

She is survived by her three children, Andrew, Peter, and Robert; her granddaughter Lily; her brother John, and her beloved cat, Heba. Her husband, Walter Millis, predeceased her as did her sister, Anne MacKay.

Alison was born on 11/22/33 – a date she was proud of – in New York City, the daughter of John MacKay and Isabel Dorman. She grew up in New York City and Orient, graduated from The Dalton School and attended Mount Holyoke College.

In 1952, she married Walter, eventually settling in Port Washington, though summers and holidays were always spent in Orient.

In 1979, she and Walter moved to London, where they lived happily until 1996, indulging her love of books, theater, travel and Wimbledon. When Walter retired they moved back to Village Lane in Orient.

An avid reader, Alison enjoyed working in bookstores including Brentano’s and Doubleday on Long Island (the latter of which she managed) and, in London, Hatchards, the Pan Bookshop and Claude Gill Books (for which she both managed the Oxford Street store and was the senior book buyer).

She was deeply attached to her many friends, coworkers, neighbors and relatives.

Orient was very important to Alison; donations in her honor can be made to organizations that benefit the Oysterponds community, such as Orient Fire Department, 23300 Main Road; the Orient Association, P.O. Box 34; or Orient Historical Society, P.O. Box 70, all in Orient, NY 11957.

Funeral arrangements are private and entrusted to Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport.

This is a paid notice.