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About
Fidelity & ExcellenceThomas Aquinas College is unique among American colleges and universities, offering a faithfully Catholic education comprised entirely of the Great Books and classroom discussions.
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A Liberating Education
Truth MattersTruth, and nothing less, sets men free; and because truth is both natural and supernatural, the College’s curriculum aims at both natural and divine wisdom.
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A Catholic Life
Under the Light of FaithThe intellectual tradition and moral teachings of the Catholic Church infuse the whole life of Thomas Aquinas College, illuminating the curriculum and the community alike.
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Admission & Aid
Is TAC Right for You?Do you enjoy grappling with complex questions? Are you willing to engage in discussions about difficult concepts, with the truth as your ultimate goal?
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Students & Parents
Mind, Body & SpiritThere is always something to do at TAC — something worthwhile, something fulfilling, and something geared toward ever-greater spiritual and intellectual growth.
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Alumni & Careers
What Can You Do with a Liberal Education?Nothing speaks more to the versatility of the College’s academic program than the good that our alumni are doing throughout the Church and the world.
Edward N. Mills (1930 - 2015), R.I.P.
Funeral Information
Visitation and Rosary: Friday, January 30, 5–8 p.m.
Krause Funeral Home
21600 West Capitol Drive
Brookfield, WI 53072
Funeral Mass: Saturday, January 31, 11 a.m.
St. Peter’s Church
202 E. Washington St
Slinger WI 53086
Interment to follow at nearby cemetery
Reception at West Bend Country Club
In Memoriam
On January 17, 2015, Thomas Aquinas College lost a dear friend, a generous benefactor, and a long-serving member of its Board of Governors. After a long illness, Edward N. Mills passed away at his home in Oak View, California, at the age of 84.
A man of business and technology, Mr. Mills had no great interest in Catholic liberal education until he started seeing the effects it had on his children (four of whom graduated from Thomas Aquinas College), and met their friends. Over time, he became a fervent advocate of the College. In 1992 he joined its Board of Governors, which he dutifully served until his retirement in 2006. By resolution of his erstwhile colleagues, he was then granted emeritus status in honor of his many years of exemplary work.
Throughout the years, Mr. Mills and his wife, Dolores, not only made many significant financial contributions to the College, they also donated a large collection of sacred objects rescued from shuttered churches in their home state of Wisconsin. Among these items are the crucifix that hangs on the cross in St. Joseph Commons, the statues of Sts. Matthew and Thérèse that stand in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel’s gardens, and the Chapel’s century-old Stations of the Cross. In 2010 the College inducted Mr. and Mrs. Mills into the Order of St. Albert the Great, in honor of their decades of generosity.
“Ed Mills was a good and faithful friend of the College, and a true leader on the Board of Governors,” says President Michael F. McLean. “I hope that all members of the College community will join us in praying for his soul and for the consolation of his beloved family.”
From Eagle Scout to Entrepreneur
Mr. Mills was born and raised in the chemical business. His father worked at the Shell Oil refinery in Roxana, Illinois, a company town that so dominated the 1,200 souls who lived there that even the high school team was known as the “Shells.”
One summer between his junior and senior years of high school, Ed was working as a counselor at a local Boy Scout Camp. At the staff cookout and hayride to close the camp down for the summer, the Eagle Scout met a young girl from nearby Alton, Illinois, Miss Dolores Springman.
Dolores was one of eight children from a devout Catholic family. Ed was an only child from a non-practicing Presbyterian family. The two began dating. With hopes of becoming a chemist, Ed went to the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, to pursue studies in chemistry and mathematics. Dolores enrolled at St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame. The Catholic example of Dolores and her family left its mark on Ed. By Christmas break in his freshman year, he entered the Church. In 1950, at the end of his sophomore year of college, Ed and Dolores were married.
By his senior year, Mr. Mills had spent enough time in the laboratory to see that a career there was not for him. He took a job with Shell’s Chemical Division as a sales correspondent for the Chicago office. After a year, he trained at Shell’s technical service laboratory in New Jersey, where he acquired a practical knowledge about Shell products, organic chemicals, solvents, resins, and plastics. This was in the post-World War II heyday of chemical development, and Mr. Mills was at the heart of the technological boom with a major manufacturer of synthetic chemicals.
He resumed sales work in Chicago a year later. Then after transfers to Milwaukee and St. Louis, he decided to go into business for himself. It was a big risk, but Mrs. Mills, who was then expecting the couple’s eighth child, encouraged him to make the leap.
They returned to Wisconsin, and the Mills started a chemical distribution business, Milwaukee Solvents and Chemicals, working out of their home. Mr. Mills’ niche was in fulfilling “rush orders” and in using his knowledge about the products to give him an edge over the competition. Mrs. Mills would take calls from customers and handle all the orders and bookings. “I was changing clothes constantly,” he once recalled. “I’d be in a business suit with a customer one minute, and then in jeans and work shoes the next, so I could package the products, jump in a truck, and deliver the orders.”
The couple’s partnership worked well. After six months they hired their first employee. After two years, the company moved to an outside office. In 1970, they opened a distribution facility in Minneapolis. Four years later, they opened one in Des Moines.
Eventually the Mills diversified into contract manufacturing and made such household items as shampoos, conditioners, bath and floor cleansers, cosmetics, solutions for baby wipes, deionized water, even “teat dip” for dairy farmers. Mr. Mills had also found a niche in reclamation efforts, taking used chemicals and making them reusable through chemical processing. His customers included industry giants such as American Can Corporation, Minnesota Mining, S.C. Johnson, Valspar, and Pittsburgh Paint & Glass.
Meanwhile, as chairman of the board and CEO of the young company, Mr. Mills had become an industry leader. He was president of the Wisconsin Paint and Coatings Association and director of the Affiliated Chemical Group, an insurance association.
Mr. Mills built a plant to make fuel-grade ethyl alcohol. By 1998 his company (now known as Milsolv Companies) had grown to 160 employees and was doing $112 million in business with active concerns in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Mrs. Mills was with him every step of the way. “She’s been the best business partner I’ve ever had,” he once remarked.
In 1998, the Mills sold their business and eventually retired to Oak View, California. After 54 years of marriage and having raised 10 children, Mrs. Mills passed away in 2004.
Family and Funeral Information
Among the Mills’ survivors are 12 alumni of the College: children Julie Teichert (’79), Anne Miller (’80), James (’81), and John (’88); and grandchildren Michaella (’12), Maria (’14), and Bridget (’17) Pape; Henry (’06), Jonathan (’06), Joseph (’08), Mary (’08), and Cecilia (’15) Teichert; and Bernadette (’12) Teichert Langley. Mr. Mills’ funeral Mass will be offered in Wisconsin, where his body will be interred. The chaplains of Thomas Aquinas College will also offer a memorial Mass in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, the date of which is yet to be determined.
Please pray for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his family, who cared for him so lovingly for many years.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.