At 3 p.m. today, Denver Mills will be remembered at the memorial service in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He was the pilot of the plane carrying 10 members of OSU’s family who died Saturday in a plane crash near Byers, Colo.
At Monday’s press conference, OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton commented on his confidence in Mills’ flying ability.
“That man that was piloting that plane, of all the people I ever would trust, Denver Mills was the best,” said Sutton.
“He’d never take a chance. There had been times when I’d say, ‘Is it OK?’ and he’d say, ‘No, we better stay.’
“I asked him the other night, before they departed — they left before we did. It was spitting light snow, and I said, ‘Is everything OK?’ And, he said, ‘Yes, it’s OK, coach, it’s going to take us about an hour and 45 minutes to get home.’”
Mills was born Jan. 31, 1945, in Flat Lick, Ky.
Mills grew up and attended high school in Flat Lick, and graduated from Flat Lick High School in 1962. He then enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., but took a break from college during Vietnam to serve in the Air Force.
Mills was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and his responsibility was servicing airplanes.
During his stay in Japan, he met his future wife, Lindell. “My mother’s father was stationed in Okinawa at the time,” said Kathryn Wilson, Mill’s daughter. “They met at a Baptist church service.”
In June 1967, the two were married.
In October 1969, Mills was honorably discharged from the Air Force. Since he had left college to serve in the Air Force, he returned to EKU to complete an accounting degree.
While in college, Mills began taking flying lessons.
After graduating in January 1970, he and Lindell moved to Oklahoma City, where he worked at Wiley Post Airport.
Russell Ring, longtime friend and pallbearer, said he had flown with Mills at Wiley Post Airport since the early ’70s .
“He was so giving to everybody and he was good at helping,” Ring said. “He always had a smile on his face. Not a day went by that I didn’t call him for advice — he was an excellent advice-giver.”
Mills became a certified public accountant, working with many different metro firms over the years, including Haskins and Sells, Coopers and Lybrand, and Murrell, Hall, and McIntosh.
The couple became a family with the birth of their three children: Kathryn, Debra and David. David, 21, accounting senior, is an OSU student.
“The only thing Denver loved more than flying were his wife and children,” Ring said.
Although Mills was not an OSU graduate, he loved the university, Lindell said.
“He audited the university a long time ago, and like everyone else, he just fell in love with the people here,” she said.
Steve Buzzard, OSU sports information director, echoed that sentiment in a statement he made Sunday.
“All I know is, in talking to the members of the basketball family, they refer to him as family,” Buzzard said. “He’s been part of the program in that capacity for a number of years.”
Lindell said her husband loved to keep the family cars in tiptop shape.
“He kept the cars spotless,” she said. “But he loved flying more than anything.
“I just want to express my appreciation for everyone’s concern,” she said. “I am so sorry for the others’ losses, not only for Denver, but for all of the other families and the students.”
Mills’ funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany.
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