Lawrence Mill

Larry Mill, 79, of Ray Hill Road, Wilmington, died in his sleep on July 2 following a number of years of declining health. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 10, 1941, son of Elizabeth and James Mill. He was predeceased by three brothers and a sister. His brother Steven Mill, and his family of Cape Cod, MA, survive. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Providence College in 1963. While working at Doorley & Co. in Providence, RI, he met Marilyn (Mickie) Myers, his wife of 51 years. He is also survived by their son James, and two grandchildren, Sylvia and Jaxon. While working in Chicago Larry and Mickie were married February 10, 1969. That summer he and Mickie, who had worked as ski bum at Mount Snow, moved to Wilmington becoming caretakers at the Old Ark. An economist by trade, Larry had no carpentry skills when he started his first job in the Valley constructing an addition to Snow Lake Lodge. But he was an eager student, a fast learner and “a numbers guy.” In the early 1970s together with partner Bob Davis, and later Nick Rifkin, he started Evergreen Construction. Evergreen built more than 50 houses in Chimney Hill and a number of houses throughout the valley. With the help of architect Rod Williams, he and Mickie designed and built their passive-solar Ray Hill house, timing its completion to allow their son James to begin kindergarten at Deerfield Valley Elementary School. The new house incorporated the hand hewn beams from a collapsed barn behind their first home in Jacksonville. The hard work of building houses took a physical toll on Larry who had both hips and a knee replaced. After more than two decades in remission, his thyroid cancer returned. Most heartbreaking was in the past year his eyesight failed due to macular degeneration. All his adult life Larry read three newspapers a day and subscribed to many journals of a scientific nature. There was no one better than him at Trivial Pursuit. His expertise was so well-known that friends called at all hours of the day and night to get their questions answered. For the past half century, Larry was the guy with the camera, chronicling a photographic history of his friends and his old pictures of their younger days were often included in birthday cards. A celebration of his life will be at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Wilmington: 1:00pm on Friday, 30 July 2021. A reception will be held at the church following services. For Memorial Contributions, please contact Julie@LineSync.com.