John "Jack" Milon

John "Jack" Milon

John "Jack" Milon was born January 31st, 1940, to John and Marie Milon. Unable to find a box he could fit into - he built his own. He was the second of 4 siblings and a bit of a trouble maker according to family lore. At the age of 18, he hitchhiked from Cincinnati, Ohio to Yellowstone National Park where he took a job as an underage bartender and then seriously unqualified mechanic. After earning a BA from Ohio State University, Jack took to adventure-seeking and teaching in Malawi and the Marshall Islands via the Peace Corps, and on to Hawaii. He earned his MS at UCSD and PhD at UCSB later teaching at University of Botswana, University of the Pacific, University of Nevada Reno, locations in China and one of Alaska's northern-most villages.

Jack was a wild, long-haired mountain man (literally, for a span of about 5 years) who managed to cultivate a keen sense of adventure in both of his daughters; his youngest "favorite daughter" Sarah choosing to explore nature and wilderness alongside him, while his eldest "favorite daughter" Rachel was quite happy to respect it from afar (bears!?!) unless it included four sturdy walls and a roof. For twenty plus years he scaled his favorite mountain - Mount Rose - patiently waiting for one or the other of his daughters to catchup.

Jack was a begrudging follower of rules, especially when it came to his beloved copy of "The Joy of Cooking", and he couldn't fathom why anyone would forego adding various nuts, seeds and grains to meatloaf, pancakes and pasta dishes. His one culinary dream left unfulfilled was that ultimate in delicacies, Baked Alaska.

Forever embroiled in one discussion or another about the state of education, Jack was never one to miss an opportunity to disrupt the status quo and doubled down in the Biggest Little City as a thorn in the side of his daughters' school district. Years after retiring from teaching he ran for a School Board position and was astonished to receive more votes than the number of people he knew. He delighted in playfully testing and teasing his family, especially with gift tags that inevitably bore a riddle to be deciphered by the recipient.

Of all of his accomplishments his greatest by far were his daughters, whom he adored unconditionally and to whom he left countless handwritten journals waiting to be translated.

Jack died peacefully at home on September 3rd, 2019, listening to his favorite Irish ballad "Danny Boy" with his wife of 42 years at his side. He leaves behind his wife Vikki Milon, his daughters Rachel Kingham (Jamie) and Sarah Herbert (Eric), and stepson Torrey Pedersen (Meghan) along with grandchildren Simon, Lillian and Milo, sisters Elizabeth Webber (Richard), Patricia Milon(Frank Snow) and brother Stanley Milon along with his nieces and nephews. He is missed.

In memory, Jack's family ask that you go on a hike, one of his favorite pastimes that he was sadly unable to pursue in his last year of life.