James Mills

James (Jim) Mills, age 88, passed away on October 7, 2022 at Maumee Pointe Memory Care in Maumee, Ohio, another victim of Alzheimer’s. Jim was born in Middlesborough, England on August 7, 1934, the only child of James Valentine Mills and Lilian Loughrun-Mills. After his mother’s death when Jim was three years old, he was adopted by his grandparents, James and Annie Mills.

He was five years old when WWII started in Europe. As a child he thought of this as an adventure with the bombs looking like fireworks and the bomb shelters were just a part of life as he knew it. His grandfather was an air warden and Jim went with him at night making sure there were no fires and checking for black out curtains.

As a young adult he worked in steel mills in Middlesborough and served two years in the Royal Navy in the mid-1950s. He then earned two degrees in engineering, mechanical and electrical. After earning his degrees, he moved to London and was shift manager at Heathrow Airport, where he worked until his retirement in 1992.

Jim planned for his retirement and learned to fly, learned to speak German, and became a competitive golfer. In England he was an active member of Flackwell Heath Golf Club for many years. He loved music and played piano, violin, and trumpet. He also loved to listen to music and attend concerts.

Jim loved to travel and had visited ¾ of the states in the United States as well as most European countries. In 1997 he met the love of his life, Milli, on a trip to China. After a long-distance romance, they married on February 10, 2001. It was Jim’s first marriage at the age of 66.

After their marriage they divided their time between High Wycombe, England and Toledo, Ohio with many visits across both countries to family and friends. Jim and Milli had two houses and very fulfilling and interesting lives in both countries. They did this until 2014 when Jim sold his home and moved to America full-time.

Even though Jim had no children of his own he quickly was acclimated into Milli’s large and noisy family, with five children, six grandchildren as well as Milli’s extended family and many friends.

Jim was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015 yet in 2016 he still passed the citizenship test, knowing the correct answers to 99 out of 100 questions!

Jim was a kind and generous man with a great sense of humor. Everyone who met him loved him. He was a gentle man and a gentleman. Jim was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Maumee, which felt like home to him as he was a member of the Church of England back home.

Jim is survived by his wife Milli; stepchildren Valerie, Greg, Lynn (Randy), Lisa and David; six grandchildren: Kelsie, Marcey, Connor (Alissa), Delaney, Riley, and Quinn. In addition to Milli and her family he is survived by his brother-in-law Johnny and numerous nieces, nephews and great nieces and great nephews in the United States; a half-brother in England, Phillip Mills; several cousins in England; and many cousins in California, Utah and Arizona. He is also survived by many, many friends across two continents.

Services will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Maumee Ohio on Tuesday, October 11, at 1:00 p.m. There will be a viewing for friends and family at Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, (501 Conant St. in Maumee) on Monday, October 10, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. The family requests any donations in lieu of flowers be made to St. Paul’s or the charity of your choice.