Alexander Mondel Miller

Alex Mondel Miller died peacefully after a long battle with cancer on February 9, 2026 at his home in Aptos, California surrounded by his friends and loved ones. He was 69 years old. He was born on May 24, 1956 in New York City. His mother, Florence Mondel Miller, was proprietor of the famous Mondel Chocolates shop, founded by the Mondel family, in the Columbia University neighborhood. Alex attended public schools in New York City, graduating from Louis D. Brandeis High School, and then went on to study at Columbia University. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Computer Science.He was deeply involved with engineering and Computer Science and was an avid licensed radio ham operator with call sign WA2TIL.Alex worked for Columbia University's Center for Computing Activities as an applications graphics programmer and later as a research officer doing software for operating systems. He also spent time doing work for NASA at their Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia.He then worked in New York City for various well known computer software companies on compilers and operating systems before accepting a position as a researcher at IBM Almaden Laboratory in northern California. He did well known and respected work in Computational Chemistry and US Patent large scale database informatics. Alex moved here some forty years ago. He loved living in Rio del Mar and spent many days walking in the Forest of Nisene Marks and along the Rio del Mar Beach. He really enjoyed cycling and mountain biking in the local hills and along the bluffs above the bay. Alex was a member of Santa Cruz County Cycling Club and rode many of the Strawberry Fields Forever rides and in the Santa Cruz Century. He was a lifetime bicyclist and bike mechanic and cycling aficionado, as well as being a highly respected amateur photographer and camera collector. Alex is survived by his Aunt Lilika in New Jersey and he shared his love of cycling in the redwoods with visiting cousins Mark and Lisa and many other loving cousins and friends.Alex will be missed at the Aptos Library Mahjong Club.A private remembrance service (TBA) will be held and his ashes will be scattered on Monterey Bay.Donations in his memory should be given to the Stanford University School of Medicine, the American Cancer Society and or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital