Golf Caddy

A strong memory I have is when Dad played golf in Mountain Fuel golf tournaments occasionally. He would let one of us kids be his caddy and we would walk the entire course with him. After the tournament was over, he would walk over to the practice green and he would let me putt for a little while. I think I was 11, and he stopped golfing later on. It meant a lot to me to be his caddy.
--Marilyn

Coach Mills

My father was a great football coach. He coached football for the right reasons. He was not in it for himself, he already had enough self-esteem. He coached for the boys. He used the moments he had coaching football to teach me and many other boys some valuable lessons in life. The lessons he taught were 1) commitment -- you had to be at practice every day 2) this is a team game -- people are counting on you so you need to perform 3) don't quit -- get up when you have been knocked on your butt, even if you are tired 4) effort matters -- when you extend more effort you get to celebrate more often 5) fundamentals -- learn the basics really well and it will form a good foundation for the future 6) no nepotism -- I was not shown any favoritism for being the coach's son -- I didn't get the glory positions of QB or running back -- I played center and some nose guard.

One of the the most important football lesson my father taught me is that everyone is important. My Dad was not the type to yell and scream, and play only the "good" players. Long before there was a 10 play rule in little league football my Dad instituted one of his own because of an early mistake in his coaching career. That mistake was not playing one player but only a couple of plays in a game. I remember my father breaking down in tears as he apologized to that player upon realizing his mistake after the game. He promptly came home and phoned the player's parents and apologized to them too. He promised it would not happen again and before it became a league rule my Dad made it a rule of his own.

I remember the good times of stopping by for a Slurpee after a hot practice with pads in August. Or riding home in the back of the truck to cool off on the way home. I have many good memories of the time on my Dad's teams.

The learning continued even after I quit playing. My Dad loved football so much that he continued to coach even when he did not have any sons playing. Brian and I each had the opportunity to be an assistant coach with my Dad for one season. What a great opportunity that was to continue the bonding between father and son.

I know I am not the only one who thought my Dad was a great coach. Whenever I run into any former teammates they always ask about Dad and they always tell how they still think of him after all these years.

Besides being a success in using football to teach lessons my Dad was also a success with his win-loss record. Winning was not the most important thing to my father but we did win many games. I know we had several seasons where we lost only 1 or 2 games. I also know that we won one mini bowl and took second place in another mini bowl.


Nice pants Dad.

--Matt

Yodeling

My dad would try to teach us to yodel at odd moments. He and I would sit on the ski lift and he would break out yodeling. We’d be on family trips and make roadside stops so everyone could stretch, and the yodeling would begin. Then he would get that big grin on his face knowing he had been silly. It was fun. It was comforting.
--Marilyn

Lunch with Dad

In the summertime I got to ride by myself on the bus to Salt Lake City and stop at Dad’s office building, get a visitor badge, go up the elevator, and visit Dad in his office. Then we would go to lunch. He took me to a nice restaurant with tablecloths.
--Marilyn

Career Day

Dad built a plywood box, painted it red, put switches on the inside, Christmas lights on the outside, wired them together so the lights would simulate how a computer worked and then brought it into my classroom to demonstrate for Career Day. I remember watching him build the box, and I remember him coming to the class talking about computers. I thought it was great and I was very proud of what he did. There used to be the old data punched cards used to feed into big computers, and he’d bring home tons of the used computer data cards and we made up dozens of games with them.
--Marilyn

Historical Markers

During family trips Dad would pull over at every single historical marker. He pulled in and Mom read the sign or the memorial or whatever. We would all just sit in the car and listen while she read. When she finished, Dad would pull out to the main road and we would continue on until the next historical marker.
--Marilyn

Football

Dad coached my brothers in football. I remember going to practice with him when Brian and Matthew were in Pee Wee football and Dad was the coach. I would be allowed to use Dad’s 8mm camera and take game film for him. I remember watching football games with him on Sundays. I remember going with him to football games at the high school when my brothers were on the high school team, and talking with Dad about the game. I love to talk to Dad about the game of football, and I have a lot of great memories about football and Dad.
--Marilyn