ROBERT M. "BOB" MILLS

MILLS
ROBERT M. "BOB"
Robert Mason Mills passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, December 27, 2013, in Kent, WA. He had been battling cardiovascular disease and advancing dementia for a few years. Bob was born April 7, 1924 in Duquesne, PA and was the second son of Dr. William Woolslaer McCleary Mills and Louisa Carr Rhodes Mills. Bob was preceded in death by his parents; his loving wife, Dorothy Frances Fiedler Mills, who passed in January 2006; and by their youngest son, Thomas Randolph Mills, who died in November 1993. His older brother, William W.M. Mills, Jr., passed in December 2003. He is survived by son, Robert (Rob) Mason Mills II and longtime partner, Jon Perdue of Walnut Creek, CA; daughter, Kathleen Lynn Mills Cheritt and partner, Mark Lucas of Kent, WA; sister-in-law, Dorothy Strohsahl Fiedler of Holland, PA; nephew, Richard Lionel Fiedler and wife, Charlotte, of Royersford, PA; niece, Janet Fiedler Andes and husband, Bob, of Richboro, PA; and niece, Mary Lou Mills and spouse, Janet Roslund, of Monongahela, PA and The Villages, FL. With direct lineage to some of the earliest pioneers to cross the Allegheny Mountains in the early decades of the 1700s, his roots can be traced back through the Mills, McKinney, Snodgrass, Laird, Baldridge, and McCleary families. Fifth great-grandfather, Timothy Mills, came from England and settled on Jamaica Bay, Long Island, NY in 1656. Fourth great- grandfather, Nathaniel Mills, moved to Morristown, NJ around 1700. His third great-grandfather, Matthew McKinney, was born in Elizabeth Twp., PA in 1744. His second great-grandfather, Stephen Mills, purchased approximately 400 acres along the Monongahela River in 1801 comprising what are now the Boroughs of Braddock and North Braddock. His great-grandfather, Isaac Mills, Sr., laid out the plan for the Borough and was the first Burgess of the new Borough of Braddock. The Isaac Mills family mansion stood on the brow of the hill along Mills Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets. This stately home became Braddock's first hospital in 1902. The Mills family mausoleum still stands at the very center of the Monongahela Cemetery in Braddock Hills, although the vaults have long been sealed. Grandfather, Stephen Mills, and great-uncle, James Mills, were founders and proprietors of the Braddock Brick Works. Great- uncle, Charles Mills, was founder and publisher of the Braddock Daily News. His father, Dr. William Woolslaer McCleary Mills, was a general practitioner and surgeon in Duquesne for many decades as well a Chief of Emergency Services at McKeesport Hospital, Head of Pathology at Homestead Hospital and one of a very few doctors to maintain an active medical license in the state for over 60 years. Bob really looked up to and admired his dad. Bob's mother, Louisa Carr Rhodes, came from a prominent McKeesport family who were proprietors of a dry goods business for many decades. Bob's uncle, John Rhodes, served in the Pennsylvania legislature for over 20 years. When Bob was born, the family lived at 217 North Second Street in Duquesne. He played stickball in the alley behind the house and worked at Kennywood Park during the summers. Bob graduated from Duquesne High School in the spring of 1941. He then spent the 1941-1942 school year at the Mercersburg Academy, a college preparatory boarding school in Franklin County, PA where he excelled at soccer and swimming. Having reached the age of 18 in April 1942, Bob enlisted in the US Army in the summer of 1942. He went off to flight school at Lackland Airbase in San Antonio, TX and earned his wings in 1944 as a Second Lieutenant. He was trained as a pilot of B-17, B-24 and B-25 bombers. Although he was never sent into action overseas, he loved to fly and always spoke of those years with great fondness for his captain and crew. Bob also looked up to his big brother, Bill, who was five years older, and a Captain and Pilot in the US Army Air Corps. Bill flew over 25 missions across Europe and retired as a Lt. Colonel from the Air Force Reserve. As a young man, his father, Dr. Will, would take Bob along to visit their 300-acre farm, really just woodland and meadows, in Fulton County, PA, south of Harrisonville, along Licking and Owl Creeks where they would hunt for fowl and small game. It was here where they would share the friendship of the Deshong and Strait families, which continues to this day. Another treasured place Bob held close in his heart was a very rustic cold-water, two-room cabin along Medix Run north of Clearfield, PA. This is where Bob went deer hunting with his college fraternity brothers. It is a place wife, Dot, loved as well, and they spent some quiet time there every year. After his discharge from the Air Corps, Bob enrolled at Grove City College. After one year at Grove City, he transferred to Allegheny College in Meadville. Here he met his future wife, Dottie Fiedler, and made many lifelong friends. Bob majored in English for his Bachelor of Arts and he was a fraternity brother at Phi Gamma Delta. After Bob and Dot graduated from Allegheny in the spring of 1951, they were married at Saint Mark's Methodist Church in Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY on September 22, 1951. This is the town where Dot had been raised and graduated from South Side High School. That autumn, they settled into an apartment in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood and took the trolley into Downtown. Bob worked for the National Tube division of US Steel and Dot was a secretary. In 1954, they moved to McGrann Hills in Peters Twp. in Washington County. With their third child, son, TR, born in 1963, they had outgrown their small house on Highway View Drive. They found a lovely acre of maple and elm trees on Robin Hood Lane and built their dream house, a three-story Colonial "in the woods" of Giant Oaks in Peters. They resided in Peters Twp. for over 50 years. Bob was an avid outdoorsman, he simply loved to be out-of-doors. He enjoyed to hunt, fish, camp, and he instilled and nurtured the enjoyment of the out-of-doors in his three kids and wife, Dottie, his self-proclaimed "child bride." Bob was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and strong advocate of firearm safety. He was certified by the PA Game Commission as a Hunters Safety Instructor and conducted courses for many years. He was an excellent marksman, whether rifle, shotgun or pistol, and re-loaded most of his ammunition. Bob was a top-notch amateur photographer. Later in life, he went deer hunting with his 357 Magnum and his 35mm with telephoto zoom lens. Bob was a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and wrote a weekly column called "Outdoor Outlook" for the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter back in the 1970s. He was a protégé and friend of Dr. Roger Latham, who was then the Outdoor Editor of the Pittsburgh Press. Bob and Dot took the three kids in the Buick station wagon with the Starcraft tent/camper in tow and visited most of the National Parks in the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes, the Northeast, and the Appalachians during the 60s and 70s. Bob was one of the founding committee members of Boy Scout Troop 320 sponsored by Trinity United Methodist Church in Peters Twp. and taught Merit Badges in marksmanship, hunting and fishing. After his retirement from US Steel and Dot's from Peters Twp. government as Planning Director, they enjoyed making trips to various places, the eastern shore in summer, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii, Ontario, Canada and the Great Lakes, the streams of West Virginia, and to Washington and California to see their kids. Their 50th wedding anniversary was spent with family in Rocky Mountain National Park along the Big Thompson River in Estes Park, CO in September 2001. Many pictures of family and friends and other info will be posted on DotAndBobMills.com in the next few weeks. Kathy and Rob would love to hear from old friends and family and can be reached at Info@DotAndBobMills.com. The Family suggests donations to the Carnegie Free Library of Braddock (Carnegie's very first library), the McKeesport Heritage Center, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy or the National Wildlife Federation. As per Bob's wishes, he has been cremated and no Memorial Services are planned. Bob and Dot are enjoying a Pennsylvania Martini together once again. Cheers!
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