Rest in Peace COACH.

Dear Eleanor and Family,

I am sorry for your loss.
With heartfelt sympathy,
Clare Ann Greco (CFUW Sudbury)

Our sincere condolences on the passing of your father.

Sheila, Tony and family. I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your dad. He sounds like he was an amazing person. I know the pain of losing a parent and I send you my deepest condolences.

Sheila, Tony and family

We’re very sorry to hear of the loss of your father, our condolences to all.

Sheila , so sorry to hear about your dad , my deepest condolences to you and your family

Sheila, Tony and family, Henry and I would like to extend our condolences of the loss of your father, father-in-law and grandfather.

To the Milliken families,
Our sincerest sympathies on the recent passing of your beloved, John. May your sweet memories of him, bring you comfort during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Dr. Yehiel and Maria Meghory

I’m so sorry for your loss, god take him to heaven

Ross, Louise, Clare and entire Milliken Family,
Our deepest condolences to you all for the loss of your precious father, father in law, grandfather. It is evident by his photo and memorial that he was a loving , caring, dedicated man. Hugs to the family. Our hearts and prayers are with you. May he rest in peace – Eternal Rest Grant unto him O Lord and Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Him.

Lisa & Charlie MacLean

To all the Milliken’s and your wonderful families, deepest condolences for the loss of your Dad…he and your Mum made great team. Thinking of you all and sending much love.

So sorry to learn of John’s death. We had many wonderful times together when John and Eleanor lived in Sudbury. The times away taking courses as well as the many social events were always fun and enjoyable. John was a competitor and played to win no matter what we were playing. He had a knack of getting his Ministry partner, Bob Perry going. They were a dynamic duo with the Ministry. I have so many fond memories of John. I send my sincere sympathy, thoughts and prayers to the family

Eleanor; Am so sad to read about your husband. When you folks left Sudbury, we lost contact but I think of you as you were the one who attracted me to CFUW Sudbury. And this year, I’m Co President!
Though I didn’t know your husband, it sounds like you both were 2 peas in a pod. Kind. Fun. A wonderful life partner. My sincere condolences Eleanor to you and your family.
Jane

Certainly a life well lived . He is remembered fondly by educators like me

So sorry to hear the news. We hold many fond memories of our trips on either side of the Atlantic. Rest in peace.

Sheila Tony and family…..We are so sorry to hear of your dad’s passing.
Thinking of you during this difficult time❤️

So sorry to hear of the passing of your Dad Sheila. He sounds like an amazing man! My sincere condolences to you and your family.

Dear Mrs. Milliken and Family,
I was sad to hear of your loss and I know my mother would be too. You and John were familiar names around our house and I know that you and my parents shared many good times together. My condolences to you and your family.

Ross and Family,

Our sincere condolences on the passing of your father. We hope that all of your good memories are of comfort to you at this time and in the future.

Eleanor and family

Have great memories of you and John both here and in the Soo. Thinking of you.

My sincere condolences to the entire Milliken family on the passing of your Patriarch. John was a good man. I have fond memories of both John & Eleanor. I always enjoyed our conversations. Sending prayers and love to you all….Ross, Bruce, Sheila and your families. ❤️
Mary Collinson ❤️

John was my tennis coach the summer I graduated from Gr 8 in the soo. Then he was my home room teacher in Gr 9 and teacher in Gr 13. I babysat Ross and Bruce. Eleanor and I used to have great conversations before they left for whatever party.
A life well lived and well remembered

Eleanor and family,
So very sorry to hear of John’s passing. I have fond memories of our time at St. Paul’s where we served together on the Outreach Committee and John provided leadership as Council chair. He could always be relied upon to provide sage advice and also make sure we had fun social times as well.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
Carol Germa

Dear Mrs. Milliken and family
I am so saddened to learn of Coach Milliken’s passing. Please accept my sincere condolences and indulge me for a moment in relating an old old remembrance I cherish about John from my high school days.
Half time and coach Milliken was upset. We sat in the dressing room sweating in stunned silence and totally bewildered. We had never been behind in a game that year. It was 1962 and the game was not in our home gym at Sault Collegiate Institute. The Sault Tech Trojans were dominating us. Our team was undefeated and on top in the high school junior basketball league.
Coach Milliken let us stew a while before he entered the room. He walked around for a time without saying a word. Then his words came out, not loudly, not angrily, not even accusatorially. He simply said: “You boys are a better team than this. You know what you are capable of. I’ve given you all the tools you need. Now it’s up to you to figure it out.”
John Milliken walked out of the room and closed the door silently. We had never been left alone like that by the coach. He had always mapped out the second half strategy.
The mark of a great coach to me is the aura he/she brings to a team. Coach Milliken had that aura in spades. We respected him, had confidence in him, and we’re inspired by him. We never wanted to disappoint him. We looked at each other and each of us looked inward.
Winning that game in the second half came easily. Each of us knew what had earned our team this success. We had shown coach Milliken that his team would not let him down. Back then, in our youth, we may have thought the championship was ours. But in our declining years we must all have come to understand that it was actually less for us and more for coach Milliken, one of the finest men I’ve ever met in my life.
.

John was an inspiring coach and math teacher at SCI and a competitive teammate in the city basketball league later. I had the pleasure of a visit with him pre-Covid in Bolton when we were able to recall many names from the Soo days. Such good memories.

Dear Mrs Milliken and family,
I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I have sweet memories from the days I spent in Canada with you all, and I will never forget such a kind and good humored man as Mr Milliken.
Sending my players and love to all the family.
Claudia Inês Rocha

John was a great friend for many years. We met through our wives who had been classmates in Phys Ed at the. University of Toronto. In the summer of 1954 John met Eleanor in the west while I met Anne in Europe. Our friendship followed for all those many years. I can recall many long evenings of food, drinks, bridge and crockinole in Toronto, Saul’s Ste Marie, Sudbury and Regina. What a lot of fun. I will miss him

Dear Eleanor
My sincere sympathy to you and your family on the loss of John. He was a wonderful man and husband and will be missed by all.

So sorry to read about John. Hope you are well, Eleanor.

Please accept my sincere condolences on your recent loss of John. The profound impact that John has had on those of us who were fortunate to have been coached or taught in the classroom by “Coach Milliken” will always endure and be treasured. I will always be indebted for the kindness and generosity of the Milliken family who invited me to board with them while attending post secondary school in Sudbury. The ping pong matches with John and the floor hockey games in the rec room with a young Bruce and Ross remain epic in my memory. Eleanor, Ross, Bruce, Sheila and families, my heartfelt condolences. “Courtie”

Thinking of all of you and extending my heartfelt condolences. I worked with Mr. Milliken as his secretary with the Ministry of Education. We used Mr. Milliken back in the day as first names just weren’t used it was the norm. I’m sorry for you loss and you’re all in my thoughts.

I am so sorry to hear of your father’s passing. He was my hero at SCI and my reason for studying Math at Queens. I will always remember his calm presence and many ways of encouraging improvement. I can still see those BF-1s in a tiny circle on tests or exams. A friend once said to me – you’d jump off a bridge if Mr Milliken asked you to. I responded with a bewildered look – of course I would! Wouldn’t you??
Thank you for sharing your Dad.

Wendy Walton Beilhartz