Who Was Emma?
Emma Suzanne Mills, 23, of Boise, Idaho passed away on January 1, 2022. Emma was born September 3, 1998 on the island of Majuro, the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She was adopted at birth by Holly Lloyd Mills and Scott Mills. Emma was initially raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana where she grew up surrounded by a lot of love, close friends, and horses. In 2005, Emma’s family returned to Boise, Idaho and she continued to grow up surrounded by her grandparents; the Lloyds, many aunts, uncles, and cousins; the Schaffners and the Inmans. Emma found a personal relationship with God at an early age. She was baptized at Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School and attended Christian schools for most of her education. Reading and studying the Bible often set the tone for Emma’s life and she frequently referred to her favorite verses for guidance.
Recently, she scouted through these verses to pick which prayers would be read at her grandfather’s funeral. Additionally, she found God and joy in the outdoors, which was obvious through her love of traveling, snowboarding, surfing, and boating with family and her many friends. She attended Cole Valley Christian for her elementary years, Heritage Middle School, Rocky Mountain High School for a year and then three years at Bishop Kelly High School where she graduated in 2017. Emma played Elite level soccer for over ten years where she played for the Boise Capitals as well as the FC Nova soccer clubs. She also played 4 years of varsity soccer at both Rocky Mountain and Bishop Kelly High Schools and won the 4A High School State Championship with her team at BK in 2016. In May 2020, she graduated from the University of Idaho, where she majored in sociology, minored in justice studies and was a member of the Alpha Phi Sorority. Emma planned to attend post-graduate school, which would allow her to accomplish her goal of starting her own adoption agency. She shined brightly when working with children and advocating for those in need. Emma’s love for others was evident in all that she did.
Emma's Vision
Emma Suzanne Mills was a wonderful young women who lived her life full of kindness, laughter, and hope. As an infant, she was adopted from The Republic of The Marshall Island and grew up in the United States surrounded by love. She graduated from The University of Idaho with a degree in Sociology. Her plans included attending graduate school with the big dream of operating her own adoption agency.
Tragically, Emma left our world too soon, but her desire to help other children find their forever families continues with the Emma Suzanne Mills Foundation. Emma was an admirable example of acceptance and inclusion and our foundation’s purpose is to assist local women and children, absent any type of discrimination. Through our collaborations with other nonprofits, we learned almost 30% of Idaho’s counties are maternity care deserts, areas without access to birthing facilities or maternity care providers.
We started Emma’s Hope to provide pregnancy care in a comfortable, safe environment. If this is you that needs help with an unplanned pregnancy, give us the opportunity to help in Emma’s memory.