Richard David Mills

Richard David Mills Jr. (Rick) passed away Sunday September 18, 2022 after a long illness. Born January 1, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Richard D. and Lucille G. Mills Rick spent his childhood in Pasadena and Huntington Beach California then graduated from Lakes High School in Washington State.

Rick was active in the theatre production early in his life and worked both behind the scenes and on stage at the Lakewood Playhouse on Fort Lewis (now JBLM) Military Base. His theatre experience led him to a career in film and television production.



He earned his FCC 1st Class License in Broadcast Engineering at Bates Technical College in Tacoma. Following college, he was hired by a TV station in Medford Oregon and began the arduous work of keeping a small town television station on the air in the 1970's.



Rick received a tip from a friend of a job opening in Tucson. He jumped at the opportunity, driving his Datsun 2000 convertible from Washington to Arizona in the middle of winter. He arrived at the spectacular site of snow-covered cactus and immediately fell in love with the desert. He worked at KGUN in Tucson for 4 years, then 4 years at Telemation Production Company in Phoenix before moving on to Los Angeles, working at several post production companies in the 1980s including The Post Group.



In the fall of 1987, Rick was introduced to his future wife, Molly McDonald by her friend Rose at an after-work get together. She found him polite and sincere and didn't mind that he was also exceptionally handsome. The couple settled in Burbank in 1989 and never looked back.



Rick was a gifted location sound engineer and worked across the globe at Olympic games, presidential debates and conventions, celebrity car chases, murder trials, urban riots, rural wildfires and all things newsworthy. He covered all formats including corporate, commercial, documentary and film. Most notably working many years for NBC Network as part of crews producing stories and segments for NBC Nightly News, the Today Show and Dateline. He enjoyed the demanding and unpredictable nature of the work and the camaraderie of colleagues who became true friends.



He enjoyed sharing epic stories of work on location and his technical knowledge of sound production. This led to a stint as Associate Professor of Production Sound at UCLA School of Broadcasting while still actively working himself.



Rick was a lifelong and dedicated still photographer, one of his first loves. He chronicled the life of his family and friends beautifully. This contribution will be terribly missed by all who enjoyed his unique, artistic and sometimes humorous approach to photography.



In addition to his wife Molly, Rick is survived by his sisters Caroline Dance (Tim), Nancy Gneich (Tom), Peggy Mills, his brother Peter Mills (Jaymie), Uncle Gerald Gleason, 2 nieces, 2 nephews and their children. Rick was preceded in death by his beloved cat, Butthead.



The family would like to give a special thanks to the dedicated and caring Providence Trinity Care hospice team, especially Tiffany and Irene. Memorial donations may be given to Providence Trinity Care Foundation at www.providencepowerofgiving.org.