Robert B. McMillen

Robert B. McMILLEN Born July 10, 1935 Died October 12, 2002. Bob died Saturday morning after a heroic fight against both kidney and heart disease. He was born and raised in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, a place he loved and often talked about to his Puget Sound and Alaska friends. His favorite story involved his high school football team, in which he was the starting guard and the team went undefeated in his senior year. As the years went by, and the story was retold, the team got better and better and he became the best pulling guard in the history of Pennsylvania State high school football. And all of us believed it. Bob loved life, loved people, and loved to have a good time. He would often walk into a room of people and yell "TELEPHONE" and everybody would start laughing -- even though nobody ever knew what he meant. It was this side of his character that made him beloved by his family and friends. Bob was a very charitable and warmhearted man. He was free with both his money and his time and was involved in a variety of caring activities, such as helping individuals who were down on their luck to being a member of the Board of Trustees of PONCHO (Patrons of Northwest Civic, Cultural and Charitable Organizations) and Co-Chairman for the University of Alaska Fairbanks major fund raising campaign. In 1994 the University awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. After graduating from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 1957 and a stint in the U.S. Air Force, he spent his entire career in the transportation industry. Starting in the trucking business at Kramer Bros. Freight Lines in Detroit and then Transcon Lines, he moved to Puget Sound and joined Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Inc. ("TOTE"), in 1977 as the president and chief executive officer. TOTE is a shipping company to Alaska. During his 17-year tenure as the chief executive officer of TOTE and its parent company, he became one of the most respected executives in the U.S. maritime industry. He was named the Transportation Club of Tacoma's Man of the Year in 1985, the Puget Sound Maritime Man of the Year in 1986, and the Merle Adlum Labor-Management Maritime Man of the Year in 1991. In 2001 the Seafarers International Union named a simulator annex building after Bob at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training & Education in Piney Point, Maryland, making only the second time in the union's history that a building was named after an industry executive. Bob was known throughout the industry for the respect he gave every person who worked for the Company, the labor leaders who represented them, and the Company's competitors. And he was also known as a person who if he gave you his word, you could take it to the bank. Bob also found time for a large number of public services activities. He was a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and past Chairman of the Alaska Committee; a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Washington Foundation, Chairman of the Tyee Board of the University of Washington and a Vice-Chairman and a member of the Board of the Swedish Medical Center Foundation; a member and director of the Washington Roundtable; member of the Seattle Rotary Club; member of the Board of Directors of the Sports and Events Council of Seattle/King County; member of the Board of Directors of Northwest Racing Associates of Auburn, Washington; member of the Board of Directors for Key Bank of Washington; member of the Board of Trustees of the Washington State Chapter of Leukemia Society of America; member and director of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce; member of the Board of Trustees of the Transportation Institute in Washington, D.C.; member of the Propeller Club of the United States; and a member on the Board of Trustees of Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska, and Life Center Northwest. He was also a member and past Chairman of the Board and past President of the Management Council of the American Trucking Association. Your family, your friends, your colleagues in business and your competitors are all going to miss you, Bob. You were truly an original and all of us are better people for having known you. He is survived by his son, Michael, and daughter-in-law, Erin, his granddaughter, Jasmine (Bellevue, WA.), the love of his life, Joan E. Thurman (Longview, WA.), his niece, Virginia M. Kerr, and nephew, Howard A. Morrison (Titusville, PA.), three great-nephews and two great-nieces. He was predeceased by his parents, Maude and Walter "Bus" McMillen, and his sister, Virginia Morrison (Bridgeville, PA.). Services will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2002, at 1:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 1717 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue, Washington. Remembrances may be made to the Northwest Kidney Center Foundation, P.O. Box 3035, Seattle, WA. 98114, or Harborview Medical Center, McMillen Memorial Fund, N.W. Lipid Research Clinic, Box 359950, Seattle, WA. 98104.