Wilfrid R. Mills, 80, of Libby

Wilfrid R. “John” Mills passed to our Lord on Wednesday March 13, 2013, peacefully at his home in Libby. 

Born March 21, 1932, in Bristol, Conn., to Joseph, and Alice (Doucette) Mills, John experienced 80 wondrous years. John grew up and attended school in Bristol. 

At age 17, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served his country from 1947 to 1973. In 1951, he was assigned to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. In October 1953, he was reassigned to Pope AFB in North Carolina followed by Clovis AFB in New Mexico. 

John received an honorable discharge in 1955 and returned to Connecticut to work at General Motors for a brief time before re-enlisting in the Air Force. During his military career he traveled the world, serving at Limestone Maine, Madrid, Spain, Denver, Riverside, Calif., Taiwan, Charleston, S.C, , and Thailand. 

In 1971, John was stationed at Andrews AFB in our nation’s capital where he retired from the military in 1973. He and his wife, Helen, and son Stanley, returned to Connecticut to the home of his parents until 1974, then to Clovis, N.M., near Helen’s family, and on to Great Falls. 

In Great Falls, John accepted a position working for Burns International Security Services, overseeing the security needs of St. Regis Paper, Co., Champion International and W.R. Grace Zonolite in Libby. 

He retired for good after 19 years with Burns after the shutdown of W.R. Grace’s Libby operations. John and Sharon married Oct. 21, 1989. 

John is survived by his wife, Sharon, of Libby; his son, Stanley, (Jennifer) Mills of Albuquerque, N.M.; his sisters, Alice Voisine of Bristol, Conn., and Christine Beaulieu of Leesburg, Fla.; his brother, Raymond Mills of Dayton, Ohio; six grandchildren, Eric and Abby Mills, Chris and Jenna Haines, Connor and Makenna Haines; and five great-grandchildren, Brandin, Walker, and MacKinzie Mills, Ezra Mathiason, and Matthew Hock.

A memorial will be held to celebrate John’s life at 11 a.m. Friday, March 22, 2013, at Christ Lutheran Church located at 200 West Larch in Libby.

Arrangements are by Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Homes and Crematory of Libby.

Donations can be made to Hospice of Libby.