Missy Behling

Melissa Marie Millspaugh Behling, 77, Charleston - “Missy” went back to God on December 4, 2023. Her daughters Leigh Smalley (Earl III) and Linsey Polensky (Michael) made her Mimi to Jake, Jolie, Kade, Ava, Cannon and Eli. She would say that she has now “slipped the surly bonds of Earth and touched the face of God.”

Missy was born on April 29, 1946 to nurse Ellen Huskes Millspaugh and Judson Albert Millspaugh, MD as they finished naval medical service during WWII. She was raised with her two younger brothers and two younger sisters in St. George, SC where her father pursued his dream of being a “country doctor”.

She graduated from St. George High School, took classes at USC, married her childhood sweetheart, and settled in “the first house in Forest Lakes” where she stayed for five decades. She was shaped by her family medical background and wartime experiences, giving blood every time she was eligible for her entire adult life, working in the dental business and retiring from MUSC.

Missy was known for her dry wit, preoccupation with lawncare, love of shells and everything about the beach, perfect cakes and deviled eggs, craft and sewing projects, stacks of romance novels while being “single since 1975”, and devotion to her grandchildren and their future. She is survived by her daughters and families, sisters Kathy Kimball and Linda Valdez and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers Greg and Teddy Millspaugh.

The family thanks the angels at The Oaks of Charleston Memory Care and Hospice of Charleston for their care in the last years of her Alzheimer’s journey. As she planned, a private family beachside casting ceremony will be held with Cheezits and Butterfingers served and only good things said about her.

Happy memories of Missy are welcome and messages may be sent to the family at www.jamesamcalister.com.