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Online Obituaries for the Indianapolis IN Area

Mrs. Gabrielle Mills Headlee

May, 18, 1912 - January, 23, 2009

Gabrielle Mills Headlee, a resident of Indianapolis for more than 55 years, passed away Friday in her home at the age of 96.

Gabrielle was born May 18, 1912, in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of Maude and Clifford W. Mills. She graduated from Iowa State University with a BA in home economics and early childhood development. She married W. Hugh Headlee in 1937, and they spent their first year in Venezuela. She taught at the first cooperative nursery school in Indianapolis, and at the International Children’s Centre in Bangkok Thailand, where the family lived from 1953 to1955. In later years she taught adult literacy, read to daycare children, and maintained an active connection with many friends and organizations. She was a member of AAUW, the Home Economics Guild, Riley Cheer Guild, and the Indiana Council on World Affairs.

The center of her life was her husband, daughters and other family, and she gained great satisfaction from creating a warm and loving home.
She was a skillful seamstress, making most of her clothes, and she liked cooking tasty meals. She loved nature, lighting up when she spotted a cardinal in the back yard and feeling joy when looking at or working in her rose garden.

Gabrielle was proud of being a third-generation Unitarian, and she was an active member of All Souls Unitarian Church for more than 65 years.

She was preceded in death by her husband W. Hugh H. Headlee in 1989. She is survived by her daughters, Joan Bowden, Bloomington, and Anne Headlee, Denver, Colorado. In addition she is survived by her sister Jean Loeffler, Boulder, Colorado, two grandchildren, Daniel Bowden, Plymouth, Minnesota, and Elizabeth Bowden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as several nieces. A memorial service will be held at All Souls Unitarian Church on Friday, January 30, at 2 pm. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to IU Foundation/Kenya Program, IMC Public Library Foundation/Adult Literacy, or the Gabrielle Mills Headlee Scholarship, at Iowa State University.