Dr. John A. Mills M.D.

Dr. John A. Mills M.D. passed away on December, 24, 2024, in his beloved home in Marion, MA, and surrounded by family.

John Mills was born June 5, 1929 in Montreal, Canada, the son of Dr. Edward Sadler Mills and Marion Baile Mills, and raised in the City of Westmount. After graduating from Westmount High School, he attended McGill University, first earning a B.A. in 1951, followed by an M.D. in 1954. He served his internship at the Montreal General and then moved to Boston to accept a position as Assistant Resident in Pathology under Shields Warren at the New England Deaconess Hospital.

By 1956, he had begun his lifelong association with the Massachusetts General Hospital where he completed a residency in Medicine. He briefly returned to McGill as a Hosmer Teaching Fellow and then served a year in London, U.K. as a research fellow at the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine. Returning once again to Boston, he became a member of the staff at the Arthritis Unit of the MGH where he concentrated on the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatology and connective tissue disease under the tutelage of Dr. Walter Bauer and Dr. Marian Ropes. It was there that he met Nancy Gordon and they were married in October of 1962. Together they raised three sons, Edward, Peter and Alexander, and made their home in Winchester, MA where they made many close friendships that have endured for over 60 years. Nancy and John were happily married for 62 years and delighted in their growing family that now includes eight grandchildren between the ages of 29 and 19.

Teaching was John’s avocation and greatest source of professional joy. From 1976 to 1992, he was the director of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course at the Harvard Medical School, from which generations of physicians learned the skill of speaking with – and truly listening to – patients, as well as the art and science of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Even after his retirement in 1996 as an Emeritus Professor and rheumatology faculty member at MGH, he continued to share wisdom with cohorts of medical students, house staff, fellows and peers as he made weekly visits to the Clinic and served one month per year on the MGH medical service. He also inspired “Mills Rounds” at MGH, at which fellows and faculty were encouraged to bring forward challenging cases for discussion, and through which all assembled were able to learn from faculty presentations and obtain unique perspectives on case evaluation grounded in Dr. Mills’ many years of teaching and patient care.

Outside of his work, John had a love of activities that could engage the whole family. These included sailing, skiing and family outings in the Fells Reservation that were a hallmark of Sunday afternoons in Winchester, often after a long morning of raking leaves, shoveling snow, or attending to a seemingly infinite variety of outdoor tasks at Rangeley Rd. Among his greatest joys were vacations spent cruising the waters of Cape Cod and the Islands in summer, and annual winter excursions back to his native Canada, where the entire family enjoyed skiing together at Mt. Tremblant in the good company of many old friends and relations from around greater Montreal, including fellow members of McGill’s Red Birds Ski Club who could always be counted upon to be up for another run as well as a cold beer (or 2) at the Chalet following the day’s exertions.

John’s connections to Massachusetts’ Southcoast and Buzzards Bay ran deep, having spent a few youthful summers on Cuttyhunk Island and, as a young adult in the early 1950’s, trailering his International 14 dinghy down from Montreal to compete in the Buzzards Bay Bowl and other competitions, where he would stay as a houseguest of lifelong friend Margaret “Peggs” Francis. By 1981, he had picked out a vessel of his own, and set out to keep her in Sippican Harbor, which he deemed to be as fine a sailing harbor as could be found on the eastern seaboard. Shortly thereafter, he began his long association with the Beverly Yacht Club where, as a member, he enjoyed both cruising and contesting for silverware aboard the “Kanga,” always in the company of family and friends, and once safely back on shore, amongst the fellowship of sailors from far and near at the many regattas and events sponsored by the club.

In later years, he rejoiced in tending to his vegetable and flower gardens, most of which he started himself from seed, secure in the knowledge that with a bit of patience and careful nurturing, they would surely produce better and more prolifically than any specimens that could be obtained from a nursery.
John was preceded in death by his sister Elizabeth and a nephew Arthur Sesselberg, and is survived by his wife Nancy, sons Edward of Cohasset (Marianne, and children John, David and Margaret), Peter of Milton (Katrina, and daughters Mackenzie, Claire and Madeline), Alex of Hingham (Sarah, and daughters Grace and Emma) a nephew, Dr. Henry Sesselberg of Cape Elizabeth, ME (Tracy, and daughters Meryl and Alemnesh), as well as Arthur’s wife Abby of Guilford, CT, and their children Herrick and Graham.

The family would like to thank John and Nancy’s many dear friends and neighbors in Marion for their extraordinary kindness and support, Dr. Chris Coley (MGH, Boston), the staff at the Tobey Hospital (Wareham, MA), Sippican Healthcare Center (Marion, MA), and Community Nurse Home Care (Fairhaven, MA). In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra or the Marion Council on Aging. A memorial will be held at a later date.

Arrangements by Chapman Funerals & Cremations – Wareham. To leave a message of condolence visit: www.chapmanfuneral.com