Teresita Millard had just finished picking up her husband’s medications when she was hit and critically injured by a driver while crossing Northeast Lancaster Drive on August 14.
She died days later, on August 17, at Salem Hospital.
The route she took that day was a route Millard knew well, said Carla Alegre, her niece.
Millard, 67, could not drive because of difficulty walking as a result of a polio infection. She would take the bus from near her home in West Salem off of Northwest Wallace Road to the northeast side of town to pick up medicine for her husband, William Millard, who is bedridden and insulin dependent.
Alegre said when Millard’s purse was returned to the family by authorities, her uncle’s medications were inside. Other than that, Alegre said, there are few details available about her aunt’s last moments.
Alegre will remember her aunt for a lifetime of giving and kindness. It was her family she cared about most.
“She did live a full life. She is one of those, a true testament of, ‘Enjoy life to the fullest and be grateful for what you have.’ She is that person. She definitely is,” Alegre said.
Back in Millard’s home country of the Philippines, Alegre recalled growing up surrounded by her family. Millard’s cooking stood out from her early years.
“Growing up, she was our go to aunt. She’s the one who would cook when it is our birthday. She would be the one who would help to care for us,” Alegre said. “My mom was sick, and she would come and help clean and take care of us at home.”
Some of her aunt’s most famous dishes, Alegre said, include lumpia, Filipino-style spring rolls; and maja blanca, a traditional Filipino coconut pudding served on holidays.
Alegre said it was in Millard’s nature to take care of her family, no matter the circumstances.
“Back in the Philippines, we were not a well off family,” Alegre said. “She would do any kind of job … Anything that she can do, wherever her help is needed, she would do it.”
Alegre described her aunt’s life as “hard, yet wonderful.” Eventually, Teresita Millard would meet her future husband, William Millard. The couple married in 2009, and the family relocated to California, before settling in Salem in 2011. Alegre said she had moved to the United States from the Philippines in 1999 when she was 19.
Teresita Millard imported the tastes and smells of her home in the Philippines to her new home in Oregon along with her selfless and giving nature.
Alegre said her aunt is known locally, especially by Salem’s Filipino community, for her exceptional cooking. Because her husband is retired, she would cook and cater Filipino food while she took care of him.
“Because my uncle’s wish is to never stay in a care home, she decided that she would keep him at home and take care of him at home,” Alegre said. “She redesigned the whole house to fit for his needs.”
Despite difficulty walking due to her disability, she insisted on picking up her husband’s medications herself. Taking the bus to the northeast side of town to go to the pharmacy was nothing out of the ordinary for her.
After Millard was hit, she was unable to deliver the medication to her husband who awaited her return at home.
On the day of the crash Alegre said her uncle could not go without his insulin. The family called 911 and William Millard was taken to the hospital where he could be adequately cared for.
“We were just devastated over that. She is his whole support. For everything. So, he was completely stripped away from that,” Alegre said. “Now he was taken away from his home. He won’t be coming back there because there is nobody there to take care of him.”
Alegre, who lives in Bellingham, Washington, said she and her family are working to find a way to move her uncle closer to them. They want to help take care of him and keep him close to family, she said.
“We can’t leave my uncle Bill behind. We can’t just leave him like that,” Alegre said. “He is family.”
Following her aunt’s hospitalization, Alegre created a GoFundMe page to help support her aunt and uncle. The page was later updated to reflect Teresita Millard’s death.
Police identified the driver who hit Millard as Mario Alberto Ortiz, 53, of Salem. Ortiz was initially cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, driving without a license and without insurance, police said. Police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick told Salem Reporter Wednesday that police were still investigating the case and that there were no further updates.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.
Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
