Excuse me for top-posting, but I'm cross-posting this to r.b.m. I
worked with Jim at DEC in the early '70s, long before I took up
cycling. IIRC, even then Jim had a poster of Eddy Merckx on his office
wall. Sigh! :-(
Rich Alderson said:Tom Van Vleck said:From his daughter Cate:
James Dean Mills, Menlo Park resident, passed away on August
4, 2004 at the age of 65 in a bicycling accident. Born in
Spencer, Iowa in 1939, he played baseball and football for
his high school team, edited the school paper, and operated
a ham radio in Linn Grove, Iowa before completing
engineering degrees at Iowa State University and M.I.T.,
where he worked on the influential Multics operating system.
He was a leading expert in the development of computer
language compilers, and he joined Digital Equipment
Corporation in its formative years. There he was responsible
for much of its Large Computer Systems software development
and, subsequently, for its European engineering
organization. He worked at Digital for over 25 years before
retiring from Intel (which acquired part of Digital in 1998).Jim had a quiet passion for life and adventure, pursuing
many activities with dedication and accomplishment,
including rock climbing, hiking, gardening, sailing, skiing
and especially amateur bicycle racing. From the late 1960¹s
through mid 1970¹s he was an active member of the M.I.T.
Outing Club and spent many weekends climbing in New York¹s
Shawangunk Mountains. In addition, he was an avid reader,
keen photographer, and classical and jazz music lover. His
interest in French cooking and wine started in the 1960¹s
and he became an expert chef and wine connoisseur, a passion
he enjoyed sharing with friends and family on a daily basis.Inspired partly by the bike handling skills and panache of
the riders at the Fitchburg Longsjo Memorial Race, Jim took
up serious cycling in the 1970¹s and it became an integral
part of his life. He raced with the Fitchburg Cycling Club
in Massachusetts for several years, and was able to return
to racing after he retired in California, where he led many
local group rides and raced as part of the Western Wheelers
Bicycle Club, Almaden Cycle Touring Club and Alto Velo
Bicycling Club. In recent years he had completed the Everest
Challenge, and fulfilled a dream by climbing Alpe d¹Huez, Le
Tourmalet and Mont Ventoux on a trip to France. Each year he
took part in the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Tour, and was one
of their top fundraisers.Jim was a caring and thoughtful husband and father, and was
especially devoted to his granddaughter. He is survived by
his wife, Dr. Carolyn Carder, his daughters Cate Mills and
Monica Devroude of Boise, Idaho, his sister Mary Sundblad of
Sioux Rapids, Iowa, and his granddaughter Zoe.He is preceded in life by his parents John Vernon and Gwen
Mills of Linn Grove, Iowa, and his brother Jay Mills of
Arnolds Park, Iowa.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts in memory
of Jim be made to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Information can be found at http://www.laf.org/.
jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3