December 25, 1932 - April 6, 2025
Millicent Colville ‘Milli’ Pratt (nee Struthers) passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Cochrane, Alberta, at the age of 92 years. Born December 25, 1932, she was raised in Stanstead, QC, where her father was mayor for 25 years.
Milli is survived by her daughters, Marylyn Pelletier (Philip), Hilary Stewart, and Judy Owad; her sons, Ward Pratt (Sharon) and Jamie Pratt; eleven grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband Bill in 1999, her daughter Robin Whenham, her son-in-law Donn Whenham, and her son Gary Pratt (Penny).
Just a few days after her 18th birthday, Milli married a man she had met years before on a badminton court and had gotten to know mostly through the letters they mailed across the country as he worked building the Trans Canada Highway. They climbed on a train west to Calgary, a city she had never been to, where she knew no one. It had to be terrifying, but she plunged headlong. She had her first child the next year. By the time she was 30, she, an only child herself, had four more. Then they adopted two more boys, like her parents had adopted her.
With a very full house and a very busy husband, she had her hands more than full. She had every excuse but took none of them. While raising her family, she also established Calling Horse Ranch in Springbank, building a large boarding stable and riding arena that became an equestrian hub of the city. She taught generations of children to ride while teaching herself about a business as unfamiliar to her growing up as large families were. She travelled across the country teaching and judging riding for decades. She was key to the establishment of the Arabian breed in western Canada. For all those efforts she was named Alberta Light Horse Association horsewoman of the year in 1981, among countless other accolades - none of which were among the reasons she did any of it.
She and Bill left the Ranch in 1989, briefly moving to Salt Spring Island, BC, when she naively believed he was serious about retirement, before returning to Springbank, and then settling north of Cochrane. She taught riding for many more years, embraced her church, volunteered endlessly, and wove herself into the Cochrane community as she had in Springbank.
Milli’s table always had space for anyone who needed it, and she always had room for someone who needed more. She loved to visit, and there was never any shortage of people excited about visiting with her. Though it wasn’t often seen, she did have a side you didn’t want to get on - she once, for example, pushed a Calgary journalist into a European fountain because she didn’t like what he was writing about Bill. Her dogs were ever present, and walking, breeding, and showing them were yet more passions for someone who certainly didn’t lack for interests. She was relentlessly curious, adventurous, and had a rhyme for every occasion. She was a teacher, a mentor, and a friend to so many. And through it all, she was uniquely herself. A renaissance woman, and a true eccentric in the best sense of the word. Milli was Milli.
A Celebration of Milli’s Life will take place at All Saints Anglican Church (404 – 4th Avenue N Cochrane, AB T4C 1E4), a place that was so central to the last 25 years of her life, on Friday, April 25, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Reception to follow in the Church Hall.
If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to Stanstead College (450 Dufferin Street, Stanstead, QC J0B 3E0) https://www.stansteadcollege.com. Stanstead College was her alma mater and a lifelong source of pride.
Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Milli’s family at www.MHFH.com.
In living memory of Millicent Pratt, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes.
