Theodore Lawrence McMillan

Theodore Lawrence McMillan was born at home to Ernest and Myrtle McMillan of Cheney, Wash. on July 23, 1926. Ted passed from this life to the next on June 30, 2017.

The youngest of four, he was preceded in death by sister Edith McCall and brother Don McMillan. Survived by sister Ernestine Hilton of Cheney, also by former wife, Lorraine (Owen) McMillan and children Steve (Renee) McMillan, Carol (Harvey) MacQuarrie, David (Vickie) McMillan, and Judy McMillan (Jerry Johnson). Ted is also survived by 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. His second wife, Virginia (Ginger) McMillan, passed May 21, 2000. Significant other and polka partner, Betty Hammond, is in care in the Seattle area.

Ted was a farmer for most of his life. Known for his innovative methods and conservation practices he had been honored numerous times as a conservation farmer, which gave him a great deal of pride. Over the years he was a dairy man, a wheat and hay farmer and a cattle rancher.

As a young man he worked for a time in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). During the war years, although he had a farm deferment, he and his brother Don worked as civilian mechanics at Spokane Air Field, now Fairchild Air Force Base.

Ted owned the Cheney Implement Company, a John Deere dealership, in the 1960s and was heavily involved in the creation of the Cheney Rodeo. He helped construct the rodeo grounds and provided equipment to groom the arena and had great enthusiasm for the enterprise.

As a young man, Ted loved the outdoors be it hunting for elk in the "Blues", snowmobile racing, waterskiing or beachcombing at the ocean. In later years he acquired lapidary equipment and spent many happy hours cutting and polishing rocks.

A life remembrance and celebration of Ted McMillan will be held at the Marketplace Alumni Room in Cheney on Friday, Aug 11 from 2–4 p.m.