Peter G. Millard

MILLARD, PETER G. Thornton, CO-Peter G. Millard, 34, died April 26, 2006, after an 8-month battle with cancer and subsequent interstitial lung disease. Peter (pgm) was born on October 7, 1971 in Buffalo, NY to Gerald Millard and the late Nancy Millard. He grew up in Amherst, NY, graduated from Sweet Home High School in 1989 and then earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from SUNY @ Buffalo in 1993. A geek at heart, pgm founded Vantek, Corp. in 1994, developing software designed to collect measurements from coordinate measuring machines, and in 2000 began working for Jabber, Inc., a real-time messaging company. Peter also launched the development of an open source client for instant messaging, called Exodus. While living in WNY, Peter was active in Boy Scouts and was awarded his Eagle Scout in 1985, enthusiastically participated in the Koinonia, Kairos, and Footsteps Christian communities and the musical ministry at his church, Bethel Baptist. An avid hiker and climber, pgm would travel to the Adirondacks for some weekend relief. He could also be found bouldering at Niagara Glen. In July 2001, pgm made the move of his life to Denver, Colorado. It was a dream come true! He could now eat, sleep and breathe the mountain air. In his spare time, he loved hiking, camping, climbing, skiing and mountain biking. Peter also became a member of the Denver Koinonia community. In June 2002, he married Christina M. DeMunda and on November 10, 2005 they welcomed their firstborn, Zoe Mackenzie, into this world. Pete is also survived by his father, Gerald and wife, Lauren, of Clarence, NY; fatherand mother-in-law, Richard and Anita DeMunda, of Henderson, NV; sister, Heather Krysty and husband Kevin, and their two children, Lauren and Kevin Jr., of Mineral City, OH; sister-and brother-in-law Maria and Mark Hagar, of Niagara Falls, NY; grandfather, Grant and wife, Jean Millard, of Milwaukee, WI; stepsister, Dawn Millard, of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; step-brother, Andrew Pickwell, of Niagara Falls, NY; step-grandmother, Lorraine Welsh, of West Clarksville, NY and many aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends. A memorial service to celebrate Peter's life will be held at 7:30 PM, Wednesday, May 3, at Broomfield United Methodist Church, 545 West 10th Ave., with senior pastor, Ken Brown officiating. A private entombment at the Everlasting Peace Mausoleum of the Highland Cemetery will be held earlier that day. In lieu of flowers, memorial funds have been established in his name with both the RMCC Foundation, 1683 Red Poppy Drive, Brighton, CO 80601 and the BCH Foundation, P.O. Box 9019, Boulder, CO 80301- 9019. Please mention "in memory of Peter Millard" for RMCC and "in memory of Peter Millard-Cancer Center" for BCH. Checks may be made payable to the foundation themselves. We would like to thank the doctors, nurses and other staff at Boulder Community Hospital for all their help and support.