Early Childhood Years

I was born of the 24th of November 1933 at the Theda Clark Memorial Hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin. My parents were Norman and Ruth Anderson Mills. My mother told me that I actually came into this world just before midnight on the 24th. However, my birth certificate gives my birth date as November 25th. During my early years, my birthday was observed on the 24th but later on we changed the observance to the 25th. My full name was Alfred Henry Mills. I was named after my two grandfathers. My brother, John, was born on the 29th of September, 1932.

At the time of my birth, my parents were living on the Mills homestead west of Greenville, Wisconsin. My great-grandfather had moved from Ohio to the Greenville area in 1848 and had acquired a quarter section, 160-acres, of land. After my grandfather died, my father continued working the farm until 1936.The land remained in the extended Mills family. My cousin and her family are operating the farm now.

In 1938, a 40-acre farm, west of Appleton, became available for purchase. My parents had very little money, but they were able to work out a deal with the previous owner and a woman in Appleton. Her name was Mary Ripple, and my parents considered her to be an angel. My parents were able to acquire the land, the buildings, some farm machinery and some farm animals for $5,400.There was no electricity or running water. A windmill and water well were located near the barn. We used kerosene lanterns for lighting and carried water in pails from the well to the house. During the next couple of years, my dad wired the house and barn for electricity and plumbing was installed, so we had running water, a bathtub, and a toilet in the house.

My mother and father were hard workers and wonderful parents for my brother and me. My mother had attended a Oshkosh State Teachers College after high school and taught at a rural school teacher before she was married. My brother and I benefited from her background as a teacher. My dad did not have the opportunity to go to school past the 8th grade, but he did a lot of reading and was self taught in farming and electrical work. My mother died on August 30, 1977, and my dad died on March 28, 1984.

School Days

For our elementary grades, my brother and I attended a one-room rural school. My brother was one year ahead of me in school. We would walk 2 miles to get to school. Occasionally in the winter, when temperatures would drop to 10 degrees below zero or colder, we would get a ride to school, unless the snow was too deep or the road had not been plowed. I don't recall a school day being canceled due to cold weather or too much snow. The school typically had 15 to 24 students in the eight grades with one teacher. Students would sit at desks and go up to a table with the teacher for lessons. There were three other students in my grade.

After 8th grade, my brother and I attended Neenah High School. We should have gone to a different high school, but our parents got permission for us to go to Neenah HS. They wanted us to go on to college and felt we would be better prepared there. My brother and I took college preparatory courses and did well academically. I graduated in 1951 as salutatorian of my class of 138 students. It was quite a change going from the one-room rural school to Neenah HS. I enjoyed school and went the four years of high school without missing a day.

During my senior year of high school, I took an examination applying for an NROTC (Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps) scholarship. It was necessary for our family since my parents did not have adequate funds to send me away to college. I passed the exam and physical and received the scholarship. It paid for books and tuition and $50 per month for room and board. This essentially covered all my expenses at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Under the NROTC program, I had to take a course in Naval Science each semester, go on a six-week midshipman cruise during the summers, serve three years of active duty after receiving my commission and be in the inactive reserve for five years after completing the active duty. It was a great program.

At the University of Wisconsin I enrolled in the electrical engineering program with an option in electronics. I became a member of Phi Eta Sigma, an honor society for first-year college students, Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society, and Eta Kappa Nu, an electrical engineering honor society. I graduated on the 28th of January 1956 with a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor Degree in Naval Science and received my commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy.

Mary Ann Protheroe Mills

I tell people that Mary Ann and I met when I was twice as old as she, when I was four and she was two. There may be some truth in this as we both attended Whiting Memorial Baptist Church in Neenah during the time we were youngsters. During high school and my college days we were active in the youth group at church. We both went to Bible camps during several summers. Mary Ann dated my brother for a short time while I dated her good friend, JoAnn Petersen. When I was a junior in college Mary Ann and I started dating. I would come home from Madison for weekends and school breaks. Typically we would go to a movie and then stop for a 25-cent hamburger with fries. We became engaged in July of 1955 with plans to get married after I finished college.

Mary and I were married on February 4th, 1956 at Whiting Memorial Baptist Church. It was a small evening wedding, with the weather about 15 degrees below zero. The cold weather did not keep relatives and the hearty Wisconsin people away, so the church was packed. After the reception and time at the Protheroe home, we headed to Green Bay for our first night together. The next morning we started packing our few belongings in our 1950 Pontiac for the trip to San Diego. We left Wisconsin on February 7th with orders from the Navy to report to the Amphibious Base in Coronado, wherever that was.

Mary has been the most wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, cook, and homemaker.  She unfailingly supported me in my career and brought up our children to be the wonderful people they are today.  She deserves special credit for maintaining her own health, since she has been a type I diabetic since 1958.  Mary is a Godly woman who delights in helping people in need.   She has been a dear friend to me and so many others.

Navy Days

We made the trip from Wisconsin to San Diego in about 8 days, traveling most of the way on Route 66. When we arrived in the San Diego area, we drove down Highway 163 through Balboa Park. We were impressed with the difference between the warm and green San Diego and the snowy remembrance of Wisconsin. We crossed the bay to Coronado by ferry and took a kitchenette unit at the Coronado Motor Inn on Orange Avenue. For the next several weeks I attended an amphibious indoctrination school and navy communications school at the Amphibious Base. Then my orders were to attend a damage control school and fire fighting school at the Navy Treasure Island facility in San Francisco. We had a small apartment in Berkeley. In 1957 we bought a new Volkswagen bug for about $1500. I kept that car for 26 years, put 267,000 miles on it and sold it for $3000. It was a great little car.

My next orders sent me to my permanent duty station which was the USS Calvert, APA-32 in Long Beach. After an overhaul period, the ship sailed to San Diego and I was assigned to the Engineering Department on the ship. During the next couple of months, preparations were made for the first of three Westpac cruises I was to make on the Calvert. The first cruise took me to Yokosuka, and I spent about three months in the Western Pacific. Then the Navy flew me back to San Diego to attend an engineering officer's school. On my flight back to Japan, I was delayed several days and missed a flight that ended up disappearing somewhere between Wake Island and Japan. God did not intend to have my life end at that time.

I served aboard the USS Calvert for about 2 1/2 years. Most of the time I was the assistant engineering officer and the division officer for the 'M' and 'B' divisions, working in the engine and boiler rooms. I enjoyed my time of active duty in the Navy, got some valuable experience in management, and had the opportunity to travel, but I did not gain any experience in electronics. Since my emphasis in college had been in electronics, we decided that I would leave the Navy after completing my obligations and get into some work where I could use my college training. I was released from active duty on January 27, 1959.

Employment

After my time in the Navy, I applied for employment at the Astronautics Division of General Dynamics and went to work at their Kearny Mesa facility in February 1959.  I started in the antenna group, with a monthly salary of $525. This group designed antennas for the various versions of the Atlas which was developed as an ICBM and then later as a launch vehicle for space exploration.  At General Dynamics I also worked in a test evaluation group and an electronics design group before ending up in the RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) group. This became the EMC (Electro-Magnetic Compatibility) group, and in 1970 I became the engineering supervisor of this group.  I continued with this position until February 1990 when I retired from General Dynamics.

During the 1980s one of my coworkers at GD started his own EMC testing company in San Diego called EMACO, which was later sold to TUV Product Services, a German company. I became General Manager of the San Diego operation of EMACO/TUV in February 1990. We had between 18 and 24 employees and did EMC and product safety testing for electronics manufacturers to show compliance with FCC and European requirements. I enjoyed my time at EMACO and retired in August 1994.

Retirement Years

Following my retirement, Mary and I went on several cruises as well as trips to see our children, friends and relatives. Cruise destinations included Panama Canal, Alaska, Western Mediterranean, Caribbean, Australia/New Zealand, Baltic Sea, Mexican Riviera, Pacific Coast, St. Lawrence Seaway, Hawaii and South America. Several times, we told our relatives and friends in Wisconsin that we were on our last driving trip to the Midwest and then we would do it again a year or two later. We enjoyed visiting family in Oklahoma, Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan and of course, Wisconsin. I estimated that we drove 35 times between San Diego and the Midwest.

Genealogy research occupied some of my time since retiring from the workplace. In my genealogy files, I have the names and relationships of over 2300 individuals spanning 12 generations with the earliest date of 1542. Mary and I spent time in several court houses and in a variety of cemeteries collecting information. We have been fortunate to have received information from relatives as well.

In August 2009 Mary and I moved into a two-bedroom apartment at Mount Miguel Covenant Village (now Covenant Living at Mount Miguel) in Spring Valley, CA.  This is a retirement community operated by the Evangelical Covenant Church with a wide variety of activities and services available to residents.  With several retired missionaries and pastors living here, we have plenty of opportunities for Bible studies and chapels.

God's Blessings

This is the most important part of my autobiography as I tell about my relationship with God. As a young boy, my parents took my brother and me to Sunday school and church on a regular basis. At that time, I had only a child-like understanding of God, the Trinity, God's love, and His salvation plan. However, when I was about seven or eight, I had enough understanding that I believed and received Jesus. When I was 13, I went to a Bible camp and I committed my life to Jesus and accepted Him as my Savior. I did not always walk with Him, but He kept me from turning away. I confess that I have sinned but through the grace of God, I have been forgiven so that today I know that I am a sinner saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I look back over my life, I can truly say, "God has been good" and we have been greatly blessed. I have had a wonderful life due to my family and because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. He has given me blessings upon blessings and life would not be worth living without Him. He is a wonderful Savior. The hope and assurance of my future with Him in Heaven gives me comfort. I look forward to spending eternity with Him.