Evelyn Cowsert (left) serves the last of patrons before closing the doors to the Mill Inn restaurant. From near to far, people swarmed the Mill Inn family restaurant in Excelsior Springs to eat one more meal and bid farewell to owner Evelyn Cowsert, who has decided to retire. Evelyn and her husband, Orville, purchased the old service station situated at 415 St. Louis Avenue in 1965 so Evelyn would never have to work in the city, and were business owners ever since. “I was never keen on the idea, but he was right,” Evelyn said of Orville, who passed away 20 years ago. “It was a good thing he bought the property.” Once the service station quit bringing in revenue for the Cowsert’s, they decided to lease the property. The Miller family leased the property from the Cowserts under a 10year lease agreement and the Mill Inn restaurant was born. “The Millers built the restaurant, and it opened to the public in January 1967,” she said, noting ownership of the building was retained. …