George L. Mills
1939-2022
by Gayle Mills
On the day George died, we watched the sun rise. As the sky grew light, George looked at me and asked, “What next?” He had been working on a To-Do list for months, directing family, friends, contractors and lawyers—literally getting his house in order. Now that work was done. So I said, “Well, you could read the paper in here or in the family room or you could go back to bed?” “I think I’ll go back to bed,” he said; and I felt a major shift take place. The date: November 18, 2022.
I met George Mills at an Amigos study day at Santa Clara University in 1966. His brother, Jim, introduced him as “my younger brother, George.” They were both seminarians at St. Patrick’s in Menlo Park. I thought George was younger than me and perhaps needed some encourage- ment to join Amigos, so I sent him a postcard of encouragement. I was in recruiting/fundraising mode at the time. Little did I know, as I played guitar and led the Amigos in singing, that I had just met my future husband...who was 6 years my senior and needed little in the way of encouragement to take on new adventures.
George had grown up in Dearborn, Michigan, home to Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company, and where his father was publisher of the local newspaper. William L. Mills was a man of such integrity and sense of duty that he took on the racist mayor of the city, Orville Hubbard, in a hard-fought election, only to lose. That was 1957, the beginning of the Civil Rights Move- ment, and George witnessed his father speaking moral truth to power and losing.
In 1959, as the result of that loss, George, Jim and their parents left the flatlands of Michigan for the hills of San Francisco, leaving behind their large extended family, childhood friends and, for George, a serious girlfriend.
This first major shift in his life taught him how to deal with loss. He got involved. USF, St. Monica’s Parish, coaching sports in Golden Gate Park, working at Camp Mather near Yosemite. He got to know his new home.
Graduating in Political Science from USF in 1961 and facing the draft, George took advice from his older brother, Dave, and followed his other older brother, Jim, into Naval Officer Candidate School on the East Coast, ending up on the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga, in the Gulf of Tonkin, as Officer of the Deck, handing messaging to the Captain, on August 4, 1964, during the incident that was used by President Johnson to start the Vietnam War.
After breakfast the next morning, hearing pilots discussing their forays over the dark waters of the gulf the night before, during which they had seen nothing troublesome, George realized the truth and wanted no part of what Washington was brewing. Although the Navy saw him as a “Golden Boy,” and George had had a positive experience up to that point, he realized he wanted no part of a system in which he could not follow his conscience. In November of 1964, he left the Navy to join the seminary. “If it had been any other reason,” said his commanding officer, “I would have said no. But the seminary? Who can argue with that?”
This second major shift in his life had taught him to take control of his future. Soon after I met him at Santa Clara, George was faced with another system in which he did not feel free to fol- low his conscience, and he left the seminary. Returning to USF for a teaching credential, he finally joined Amigos spending two important, life-changing summers,1967 and 1968, in Tari- moro, where he had memorable adventures with Bill Conlin, Terry Greeley, and Flora Mancebo.
Prior to his second summer in Tarimoro, in the spring of 1968, George began a 32-year teach- ing career at San Rafael High School, thanks to Flora’s 5 star recommendation. George had Flora as a reference, and when head of personnel called her, Flora said, “Hire him!” And they did. George taught all levels of English, Yearbook and Journalism. In 1978 he earned his MA in Education from USF by establishing the revolutionary Title I Language Arts Learning Center at San Rafael High. In 1983 he received the award for “Classroom Excellence” from the California Association of Teachers of English. In 1985 he became a fellow of the Bay Area Writing Project at UC, Berkeley. In 1997 he was selected as one of the “Outstanding Teachers” in Marin Coun- ty. George was active in the San Rafael Federation of Teachers throughout his teaching career, acting as president during a number of crucial years.
1968 was also the last year Amigos returned to Mexico. What seemed like a lifetime was only five years, from ’63 to’68. But we all know Amigos didn’t stop in 1968. San Francisco became a center for ex-seminarians and Amigos. A group of us met often at the apartment of Terry Greeley and Charlene Kohl (Kelzer). It was a time of upheaval at SF State and some of us were on campus there, bringing back news to these gatherings at Terry and Char’s. Discussions would ensue, and George and his brother Jim would engage in such lively debates with each other that someone once called them “stereophonic Mills.”
I had the impression George was argumentative, not a good listener; but Terry disagreed. Her experience was that George was a very good listener. Since I lived in Mill Valley, George and I and a few others from Marin, like Jack Kreil and Steve Matosich, would carpool to the City for these gatherings. Soon it was just George and myself driving over together.
On July 11, 1969, the third major shift in George’s life occurred when we married. Coming from a large, extended Michigan family, George was primed for marriage and fatherhood. He coached Christophers’s Youth Soccer and Little League baseball teams and served as As- sistant Scoutmaster for Chris’ Boy Scout troop. George enjoyed building things with both kids like an addition to the house and a Clubhouse Chris named “Delta House.” He loved introduc- ing them to Yosemite each summer and nature walks and camping out around Marin, as well as holiday celebrations with our two families. He was “Breakfast Man” on the weekends, taking the kids to MacDonalds so I could sleep in. In 2012, we moved to LA for a deep dive into grandparenting, renting a house a block away from Claire. By 2015, Claire’s youngest was preschool age, and we were ready to get back home. “George” means “tiller of the soil,” and George loved getting his hands in the dirt of his own backyard.
We had one adventure after another in our 53 years together, with Amigos always running in the background; and indeed, Amigos was there in force on December 29, 2022, despite the atmospheric storm, to witness George’s final major shift in his life, one in which he again took control of his future by peacefully accepting his death.
George was a remarkable man, proud of his roots, proud of his accomplishments, proud of his family, and very appreciative of Amigos Anonymous and how important the group was in his life; and what a life! I can hear him say, “I’ve been blessed. It couldn’t have been better. ” I feel the same. It was a pleasure and an honor to share my married life with this wonderful man.
I met George Mills at an Amigos study day at Santa Clara University in 1966. His brother, Jim, introduced him as “my younger brother, George.” They were both seminarians at St. Patrick’s in Menlo Park. I thought George was younger than me and perhaps needed some encourage- ment to join Amigos, so I sent him a postcard of encouragement. I was in recruiting/fundraising mode at the time. Little did I know, as I played guitar and led the Amigos in singing, that I had just met my future husband...who was 6 years my senior and needed little in the way of encouragement to take on new adventures.
George had grown up in Dearborn, Michigan, home to Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company, and where his father was publisher of the local newspaper. William L. Mills was a man of such integrity and sense of duty that he took on the racist mayor of the city, Orville Hubbard, in a hard-fought election, only to lose. That was 1957, the beginning of the Civil Rights Move- ment, and George witnessed his father speaking moral truth to power and losing.
In 1959, as the result of that loss, George, Jim and their parents left the flatlands of Michigan for the hills of San Francisco, leaving behind their large extended family, childhood friends and, for George, a serious girlfriend.
This first major shift in his life taught him how to deal with loss. He got involved. USF, St. Monica’s Parish, coaching sports in Golden Gate Park, working at Camp Mather near Yosemite. He got to know his new home.
Graduating in Political Science from USF in 1961 and facing the draft, George took advice from his older brother, Dave, and followed his other older brother, Jim, into Naval Officer Candidate School on the East Coast, ending up on the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga, in the Gulf of Tonkin, as Officer of the Deck, handing messaging to the Captain, on August 4, 1964, during the incident that was used by President Johnson to start the Vietnam War.
After breakfast the next morning, hearing pilots discussing their forays over the dark waters of the gulf the night before, during which they had seen nothing troublesome, George realized the truth and wanted no part of what Washington was brewing. Although the Navy saw him as a “Golden Boy,” and George had had a positive experience up to that point, he realized he wanted no part of a system in which he could not follow his conscience. In November of 1964, he left the Navy to join the seminary. “If it had been any other reason,” said his commanding officer, “I would have said no. But the seminary? Who can argue with that?”
This second major shift in his life had taught him to take control of his future. Soon after I met him at Santa Clara, George was faced with another system in which he did not feel free to fol- low his conscience, and he left the seminary. Returning to USF for a teaching credential, he finally joined Amigos spending two important, life-changing summers,1967 and 1968, in Tari- moro, where he had memorable adventures with Bill Conlin, Terry Greeley, and Flora Mancebo.
Prior to his second summer in Tarimoro, in the spring of 1968, George began a 32-year teach- ing career at San Rafael High School, thanks to Flora’s 5 star recommendation. George had Flora as a reference, and when head of personnel called her, Flora said, “Hire him!” And they did. George taught all levels of English, Yearbook and Journalism. In 1978 he earned his MA in Education from USF by establishing the revolutionary Title I Language Arts Learning Center at San Rafael High. In 1983 he received the award for “Classroom Excellence” from the California Association of Teachers of English. In 1985 he became a fellow of the Bay Area Writing Project at UC, Berkeley. In 1997 he was selected as one of the “Outstanding Teachers” in Marin Coun- ty. George was active in the San Rafael Federation of Teachers throughout his teaching career, acting as president during a number of crucial years.
1968 was also the last year Amigos returned to Mexico. What seemed like a lifetime was only five years, from ’63 to’68. But we all know Amigos didn’t stop in 1968. San Francisco became a center for ex-seminarians and Amigos. A group of us met often at the apartment of Terry Greeley and Charlene Kohl (Kelzer). It was a time of upheaval at SF State and some of us were on campus there, bringing back news to these gatherings at Terry and Char’s. Discussions would ensue, and George and his brother Jim would engage in such lively debates with each other that someone once called them “stereophonic Mills.”
I had the impression George was argumentative, not a good listener; but Terry disagreed. Her experience was that George was a very good listener. Since I lived in Mill Valley, George and I and a few others from Marin, like Jack Kreil and Steve Matosich, would carpool to the City for these gatherings. Soon it was just George and myself driving over together.
On July 11, 1969, the third major shift in George’s life occurred when we married. Coming from a large, extended Michigan family, George was primed for marriage and fatherhood. He coached Christophers’s Youth Soccer and Little League baseball teams and served as As- sistant Scoutmaster for Chris’ Boy Scout troop. George enjoyed building things with both kids like an addition to the house and a Clubhouse Chris named “Delta House.” He loved introduc- ing them to Yosemite each summer and nature walks and camping out around Marin, as well as holiday celebrations with our two families. He was “Breakfast Man” on the weekends, taking the kids to MacDonalds so I could sleep in. In 2012, we moved to LA for a deep dive into grandparenting, renting a house a block away from Claire. By 2015, Claire’s youngest was preschool age, and we were ready to get back home. “George” means “tiller of the soil,” and George loved getting his hands in the dirt of his own backyard.
We had one adventure after another in our 53 years together, with Amigos always running in the background; and indeed, Amigos was there in force on December 29, 2022, despite the atmospheric storm, to witness George’s final major shift in his life, one in which he again took control of his future by peacefully accepting his death.
George was a remarkable man, proud of his roots, proud of his accomplishments, proud of his family, and very appreciative of Amigos Anonymous and how important the group was in his life; and what a life! I can hear him say, “I’ve been blessed. It couldn’t have been better. ” I feel the same. It was a pleasure and an honor to share my married life with this wonderful man.