Obituary of Colin Charles Mills
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Colin Charles Mills, our Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather at Toronto General Hospital on January 9, 2023, at the age of 92. He was surrounded by his family.
Colin will be greatly missed by: his loving wife of 68 years, Meta; his children Cathy, Brian, spouse Jeanette, Allyn, spouse Arthur, and Doug (predeceased) spouse Trish; his grandchildren Dylan, spouse Deonne, McKenzie, Ivan, spouse Claire, Emily, spouse Jeremy, Michael, spouse Jenna, Matthew, Morgon, Jason, Julia, spouse Luke, Helena and Owen; and his great grandchildren Eden, Arya, Ronan and Maeve.
Colin led an amazingly long, successful, and healthy life. He was born in England in 1930 and like many of that era had a difficult youth. When WWII broke out his mother in 1940 brought him to Boston where he was billeted and attended Belmont Hill School for the duration of the war. During that period, he was neglected and malnourished by his billets but was fortunate to be rescued by the Eleanor Roosevelt Society. After the war he returned to England and more tragedy confronted him with the passing of his father in 1946. Colin and his mother immigrated to Canada in 1947. He joined the RCAF in 1950 and his life changed forever when he met the love of his life and future bride Meta Marie Ruffee on July 4, 1953, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. They were married on May 15, 1954, and lived initially in Winnipeg, then Cooksville, Ontario and then Rosemere, and Westmount, Quebec before finally settling in Toronto, Ontario.
After several different jobs in insurance, Colin was hired by an Actuarial and Benefit Consulting firm known as TPF&C (now known as Willis Towers Watson) in the early 60’s. After a training assignment in Philadelphia, he was assigned to the Montreal Office in 1962. In 1976, he was then transferred to Toronto until 1988. He completed his career in New York City in 1990. Colin had a highly successful career with TPF&C, becoming a senior partner with the firm. He had several areas of expertise he provided to public and private companies including designing DB Pension Plans, Executive Compensation, and developing for TPF&C, a global compensation scheme. He also co-authored a book entitled “Canada at the Pension Crossroads” published in 1979.
Colin and Meta had 4 children who spread around the world with years spent in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Edmonton, Alberta, Paris, France, Bath, England and Toronto, Ontario. Colin and Meta loved to travel with family and organized epic family vacations starting with Martha’s Vineyard (1988), Tour de France (1991), Canadian Rockies (2002), Collingwood Ski Holiday (2005) and finally New Orleans (2014) for their 60th Anniversary.
Colin had boundless energy and many pursuits. Being the patriarch of the family, he loved to plan, host, and celebrate holidays and life events with his large family. He gave all his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren a sense of occasion and handed down wonderful traditions. He also treated the children’s friends as if they were part of the family, so much so that half the attendees at Colin and Meta’s 50th Wedding Anniversary were those same friends.
He was also a gourmet chef and cake baker, cocktail aficionado, tea drinker, collector of fine wines and paintings, Scout Leader, Lay Reader (for the Anglican Church), photographer, documentarian (annual family calendar), tech enthusiast, writer, golfer and pet lover. One of Colin’s greatest passions was cooking. In his later years, when he moved into a communal house with his two daughters, Cathy and Allyn and her family, he was the head chef and planned weekly meals, cooking for 6 people every day for 4 years until his health failed him in the fall of 2022.
The family will receive friends and colleagues at the Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles – Newbigging Chapel, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville) for a remembrance gathering on January 18th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Colin’s memory to the University Health Network (uhnfoundation.ca). Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.
© 2022 Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles – Newbigging Chapel Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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