Larry D. McMillan

Dr. Larry D. McMillan, PhD - Colorado Springs, CO - May 16, 2017, 80 y/o. On this day, God received a brilliant, generous, loving, kind, humble and witty spirit. After gallantly battling cancer for over 4 years, Larry passed peacefully surrounded by friends and loved ones. He lived life to its fullest and overcame daunting challenges to become a world-renowned physicist, chemist, entrepreneur, inventor and mathematician. He emerged from humble beginnings in the lumber camps of Northern Michigan to found and co-found several leading-edge high-tech companies that revolutionized the semiconductor industry. He had an incredible knack to listen to any music and immediately play it by ear on his mandolin, guitar, banjo or harmonica. He was a prolific reader who consumed huge volumes of information on a plethora of topics and often read several books at the same time. He will be missed by all.

Larry was born in a tarpaper shack in Trout Lake Michigan to Ira and Lilly McMillan on June 10, 1936. A child of the Great Depression, Larry learned early to be resourceful, innovative and persistent, while keeping a sharp sense of humor. His early years were spent learning, brawling and experimenting with whatever he could get his hands on. While very young, he scrounged spare parts to build a vacuum tube radio to listen to music and world events and then later saved enough money to mail order his first mandolin for $23. Larry attended a one-room elementary school in Eckerman, Michigan and then Rudyard High School, Michigan. Following work in the Upper Peninsula lumber camps, Larry went to Associated Trucking Lines, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and from 1955 to 1965, he was a Claim Investigator, Dispatcher, Freight Terminal Agent and Terminal Manager amongst other things. In 1955, he married Theresa (Mayer) and they had six sons (Aaron, Keith, Curt, Adam, Kent, Craig). After moving to Arizona in 1965, he worked at Motorola Inc. where he was an Engineer, Engineer Manager, Manager of Linear Production, Staff Scientist and Manager of Device Engineering. While at Motorola, he invented numerous technologies for solid-state devices, materials research and development, and Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD); many resulted in patents that are still in use today. In 1970, Larry and Theresa had their last child, a girl, Andrea (Blanton). Larry and Theresa were divorced in 1975. Following Motorola, Larry worked at American Microsystems, Inc. and then National Cash Register Corporation from 1976 to 1979. In 1977, Larry married Victoria (Cronin) where he extended his family to include Carrie and Michael (Linn). During this time, Larry continued to blaze new trails in semiconductor technologies. He then went to work at Storage Technology Corporation where he was the Vice President and General Manager of Microtechnology Operations. His work there resulted in major advances in material and thin film technologies. From 1980 to 1982, Larry was a Vice President at Stephenson Western, Inc. where he advanced computer modeling, fabrication design, process equipment and hazardous chemical disposal. Larry then went to work at Honeywell, Inc. until 1984 where he was a Process Engineering Manager, Manager of Advanced Development then Operations Manager. While there, he continued to make amazing advances in material and semiconductor technologies. In 1984, Larry was a Corporate Founder and Vice President of Research and Development (R&D) of Ramtron Corporation located in Colorado Springs, CO. The R&D work there resulted in revolutionary advances in thin film ferroelectric memory devices and integrated circuits. In 1988, Larry became the President, Co-CEO, and Corporate Founder of Symetrix, also in Colorado Springs. Symetrix Corporation is a world-renowned leader in the development of technology for the semiconductor industry that is used in a wide range of areas such as communications, data acquisition and measurement devices. Symetrix is actively engaged with major semiconductor companies, universities, government and other global organizations and holds multiple U.S. and foreign patents. Always learning, advancing R&D and keeping busy, Larry remained very active with Symetrix in R&D until just a few years ago.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from Aquinas College (1966, Grand Rapids, MI), a Master of Science in Solid State Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University (1972, Tempe, AZ) and earned his Ph.D in Entrepreneur Engineering at 69 years old from the Kochi University of Technology (2005, Kochi, Japan). Larry is a prolific speaker, writer, editor and has presented at numerous conferences and published countless articles in editorials, journals, periodicals, technical reports, and books. He is a member of multiple professional societies and has received accolades and awards from many organizations and was featured in several magazines to include Forbes. Throughout Larry's lifetime, he has held solely or jointly over 200 patents.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents Ira Duncan (McMillan) and Lilly Belle (Reed), his brothers Lewis, Judd, Gordon, Paul, and Raymond (McMillan) and sister Clara (Baxter). He also lost his stepson, Mike (Linn) in 2001.

Larry is survived by his wife Victoria. For over 40 years, Victoria and Larry loved to travel and together saw much of the world, both for business and pleasure. He is also survived by his sons, Aaron, Keith, Curt, Adam, Kent, Craig (McMillan) and his daughter, Andrea (Blanton) and his stepdaughter Carrie (Leonas) along with 17 grandkids and 3 great grandkids with another great grandkid on the way.

Larry blazed brightly his entire life and positively influenced everyone he touched with his unique sense of humor, quick wit and sincerity. Larry will be missed by all…family, friends, loved ones, colleagues, and business associates. He did not want a funeral service but instead will have his ashes delivered to one of the few remaining unexplored areas of our world, the Pacific Ocean. A celebration in his memory will be held at a date still to be determined. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Larry's name to the Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care at https://www.pikespeakhospice.org/donate-today or (719) 633-3400.