Student remembered, celebrated for life

From the outside looking in, Bethany Scott Mills seemed like your average UTM student, but from the inside looking out, there was nothing common about her.

“There are so many ways I could describe Beth, and not a single one of them would be negative. She was radiant, beautiful, positive, humble and the definition of love,” said Scarlett Butner, a close friend of Mills.

Mills was more than just another student at UTM. She was a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend to many. She always had a smile on her face and kind words to share.

“Beth’s smile was as contagious as the flu; you couldn’t help but catch it. She lit up the room with her smile and laughter. She always kept everyone around her smiling too,” Butner said.

Mills made a point to be kind to others. It is something that many will remember her for.

“Bethany treated everyone with kindness and respect. She was the kind of woman who touched the lives of everyone around her, and she always made everyone else smile,” said Katelyn Byrd, Mills’ little sister in Alpha Omicron Pi.

During her time at UTM, Mills majored in Education. She also joined Alpha Omicron Pi and participated in many events with her sorority. Even before joining AOPi as a freshman, she affected the lives of those around her.

“Beth and I met during rush her freshman year, which was my sophomore year. I had just transferred from MTSU and didn’t have that many friends at Martin. Beth was in my rush group, and her positive attitude shined so bright to help me find my way through the tough days during rush. Then, we both got into Alpha Omicron Pi, and we became instant best friends,” Butner said.

Bethany Scott began dating her then boyfriend, Donavin Mills, during August 2012. They had gone to school together at Dresden High School and had tried dating then, but their schedules never seemed to work out.

“Bethany worked at E.W. James, and I would see her sometimes and talk to her. When I would get home, Donavin would always ask me ‘Mom, did you get to see Bethany again?’ and I would say, ‘Yeah, why?’ and he would say, ‘She’s texting me again.’ So, I said, ‘Donavin, why don’t you just give it a try?’ and he would say, ‘Mom, we just don’t have time,’” said Dawn Mills, Mills’ mother-in-law. “So, I told him, ‘Someone’s going to get her.’ They would text back and forth for a few days, and then they would stop. She always had everything going on with school, and he was working. They just never could get together.”

In August 2012, Mills bought a four-wheeler and went snorkeling with a friend. He invited Scott to go along, and she had a really good time. After that, they began dating and the two became inseparable.

“He said, ‘Well, she passed the test.’ He never thought of Bethany as the country girl, and that was what he wanted. Once, he took Bethany snorkeling with the four-wheeler and realized ‘Hey, she does enjoy what I enjoy.’ They started dating and were inseparable ever-since,” Dawn Mills said.

During the Fall 2012 semester, Scott was informed she had an illness that caused her to take some time off from school. The news of her illness took many people by surprise.

“We were speechless. No one could understand how something so horrific could happen to someone so amazing,” Butner said. “I was devastated because I knew the outcome of ovarian cancer was the worst.”

The morning she went to the hospital to find out what was going on, Scott told her boyfriend that he didn’t need to go with her and that she would call and let him know what was going on.

“The morning she went to the hospital, I had woken Donavin up for work and he said, ‘Mom, Bethany is at the hospital.’ So, I asked him why he didn’t go. He told me, ‘Mom, she said she would call.’ I said, ‘Donavin, don’t listen to girls when they tell you that. You need to go.’ He said, ‘Mom, she’ll call.’ Then, when we found out she was in ICU he was like, ‘Mom, what do I do?’ I said ‘Donavin, go up there.’ He did. Of course, after that, he was up there with her every chance he could get,” Dawn Mills said.

The couple continued to date through November 2012.

“He came home from work one night right before Thanksgiving and I said, ‘Donavin, is something wrong?’ He said, ‘No,’ but he just had this look on his face. So, I said, ‘You have something on your mind?’ He just said, ‘No.’ He kept fooling with his phone and looking at the T.V. Just as I was about to go to bed, he handed me his phone. There was a picture of an engagement ring. I said, ‘Are you sure?’ He said, ‘Yeah, Mom.’ This is when we knew Bethany had cancer. I said ‘Donavin, this is a lot to take on. … This cancer, you don’t know that even if they cure it, that everything will be okay.’ He said, ‘Mom, we’ve wasted enough time. I know Bethany is the one.’ That was on a Thursday, and that weekend he got with his dad and his uncle, and they went to Kay Jewelers, because he wanted the ring for Thanksgiving. When he got to Kay’s, they had one ring he had picked out left. It was in Bethany’s size. He said, ‘See, Mom. I told you,’” Dawn Mills said.

That Thanksgiving, her family, her mom and dad and several of their friends went over to the Mills’ home to be there when Mills asked if she would marry him.

“They knew he was going to propose; she didn’t, but everyone else did,” Dawn Mills said.

“We all went around the room and said what we were thankful for and when we got to Donavin –we made him go last– he got down on one knee. Bethany said, ‘Donavin, what are you doing?’ He pulled the ring out and said, ‘Bethany, you are the first thing I think of every morning when I wake up, and the last thing I think about every night. We’ve wasted enough time; I want you to be my wife.’ Everyone in the room was crying, and she accepted.”

The couple married on August 17, 2013.

“One thing that Donavin did was any time he went to the store he would come home with fresh flowers, because he wanted her to know that when he went, he thought of her,” Dawn Mills said. “The last time she was home, right before she went back to the hospital, he came home and said, ‘I only bought half of your presents.’ She was like, ‘What do you mean half?’ He said, ‘You know how I always go to the store and get you one thing and I always forget the other?’ She said, ‘Like flowers?’ He said, ‘Yeah … well, I always forget to get the vase, but I bought you a vase, but I forgot to get the flowers.’ She said, ‘Donavin.’ Then she looked at me and said, ‘We have 24 vases from our wedding, why did he buy me a vase?’”

The couple were always buying each other gifts when they went out anywhere.

“It wasn’t about buying gifts, it was so the other knew they were thinking about each other,” Dawn Mills said.

On Dec. 18, 2013, Mills lost a 14-month battle of ovarian cancer. She would be turning 23 on Jan. 24. Though she lost the battle, there is one thing she never lost: faith. Friends of Mills say she kept a strong faith in God while battling the cancer.

“When Beth was sick, she clung to her faith first and her family second. God was her support, and she knew that it was all in his hands. … Beth’s faith could move mountains, and I pray I can become more like her in my faith,” Butner said.

During Mills’ battle, she never lost faith and stayed strong for her family.

“She stayed positive for her family, even in the worst of times,” Butner said.

Mills’ faith had an affect on most of the people she was around, especially her husband.

“Bethany helped Donavin in his faith. He’d been in church since he was 5, but just wasn’t as strong as Bethany in his faith,” Dawn Mills said.

Their pastor gave them a one-year devotional to complete during their first year of marriage.

“Every night, Donavin would say, ‘Come on Bethany, we’ve got to do our Bible study together.’ One morning, Bethany woke up and Donavin was sitting on the edge of the bed. She asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘I was just praying for you, and thanking God for you.’ That was while she was healthy,” Dawn Mills said.

Though they didn’t have a long time together, their time together had a major influence on one another and their families.

“You never really knew where their family ended and ours began,” Dawn Mills said.

Friends say that while they understood that her illness was serious, they will still miss her dearly.

“We all understood the seriousness of Bethany’s illness, but it didn’t make it any less painful or shocking when we found out about her passing,” Byrd said.

If anything can be said of Mills, it is that the legacy of her kindness will live on through her family and friends.

“There is no one like her, nor will there ever be,” Butner said.