Carl Richard McMillen, 71
Carl Richard McMillen, 71, has passed away.
A celebration of life services will be held on Saturday, April 12, at 11 a.m. at the Clark Fork Senior Center. A private family interment will follow at the Clark Fork Cemetery.
Carl Richard McMillen, 71 was born in Salt lake City, Utah, to Maxine Petrina Skillingstad and William Hyrum McMillen on June 26, 1936.
During World War II the family moved to San Francisco so they could all work in the war effort. Carl attended grade school in San Francisco at Parkside Elementary and, at the age of 6, sold newspapers with his brother Phillip on the corner in the sunset district downtown San Francisco.
At 17 Carl enlisted in the Marines and was in active duty during the Korean War. Carl served eight years in the Marine Corps from 1954 to 1962 and received special recognition for sharp shooting.
In 1955, Carl married Maxine Sanders in Oklahoma City; they settled in Woodland, Calif., and had three children. Carl worked for Yolo Engineers as a land surveyor until 1968.
In 1965, Carl married Marine June Walton, who he had known since she went to high school with his sister Darlene. Maurine had three children that he raised as his own, and together they had three more children.
In January 1968, Carl moved his family to Everett, Wash., and worked for Ruskin-Fisher, Group Four and Sadler Surveying.
Carl was a licensed land surveyor in Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. In 1971 Carl worked on a top secret project in Point Barrow Alaska for the Navy as surveyor.
In 1973, after obtaining his Idaho land surveyors license, Carl and Maurine moved their family to Clark Fork, Idaho, where they started McMillen Surveying. During his years running McMillen Land Surveying, Carl was one of the largest local employers at the time. Carl had contracts all over the Northwest for the federal government. Together, Carl and Maurine later purchased and ran the Cedars Café, Playhouse Bar, Bucks Saloon, and Alibi Charters.
Carl had a love of the outdoors and enjoyed collecting guns, knives, belt buckles, coins and antique surveying equipment.
Carl had a love of the water and in 1971 received his captain's license, after that could be found on the weekends cruising around Lake Pend Oreille with his friends and family on the Alibi.
Carl was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion.
Carl was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Phillip McMillen; a sister, Darlene Wolfe; and ex-wives, Maurine McMillen and Shirley “Wilson” McMillen. Carl is survived by his sister, Lani Eisemann of Grove, Okla.;, brothers, William and Lois McMillen, of Lake Havasu, Ariz., and Bobby and Leanne McMillen of California; his daughters, Lynn and Tony Bierwagen of Thompson Falls, Mont., Helen and Rick Valenzuela of Round Rock, Texas, Vickie Broeder and Mike Walker of Priest River, Idaho, Michelle and Wayne Becker of Clark Fork, Carla and Kevin Loveland of La Grande, Ore.; and his sons, Thomas Hayden Church of Utopia, Texas, Andy Quesada of Canyon Lake, Texas, Eric Lofstrom of Priest River, and Raymond McMillen of Spirit Lake, Idaho; and 14 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Loveland Funeral Chapel, in La Grande, Ore., is handling the arrangements.