Obituary
Kenneth Clayton Mills, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on November 10, 2024, leaving behind a legacy of innovation, compassion, and a steadfast commitment to making our roads safer.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Ken was adopted by Clayton and Nina Mills. Ken’s father was a fisherman off the coast of Canada. The family moved to Fairhaven, Massachusetts when Ken was four years old. He became a naturalized US citizen then. When Ken was 13, his family moved to Long Beach, California where Ken met Marcia at a New Years Dance. He kissed her at midnight and the was the beginning a very long love story.
Meeting in 1960 at the age of 15 & 14, Ken and Marcia have been loving life long partners for 64 years. They married in 1966. Their son Devon Kenneth was born in 1967 and granddaughter Julia Ann was born in 2000. Though the family is small, they had wonderful adventures together.
After earning his PhD degree in research psychology at age 25, he and Marcia purchased a a sports car in Germany and flew there to pick it up and then camped throughout Europe for a month. Devon, then 3 years old,
spent the time with is playmate’s family in Long Beach California.
Ken and Marcia built their first sailboat in Ontario California during Grad school. Moving from California to Olympia Washington for his first professional research position studying driver safety, he honed his skills in this area. Three years later he was invited to give a speech about his research at UNC and was asked to join the faculty at UNC in the department of psychiatry. Before driving cross country for NC, Ken, Marcia, and Devon (then five years old) took their 21′ ‘Pen Yann’ tunnel drive power boat to explore the Puget sound all the way to Princess Louise Inlet.
Ken & Marcia built their second boat in their 30s-40s. It was a 32′ cutter rig fiberglass hulled ‘Westsail’. The hull, deck, cabin sole, two interior bulkheads, and teak cap rail were complete, but the rest was empty. It took them eight years to complete ‘Bit-by-Bit’.
Leaving the university after four years, Ken joined Marcia to form Profile Associates Inc. He was awarded several small business grants to continue his research about eye movement and driving. He also saw clinical patients. Ken wrote several books and the last one ‘Disciplined Attention’ caught the eye of Joe Buckner, a judge in Orange County, NC. Judge Buckner asked Ken if he would turn his book into an on-line course that the
judge and district attorneys could recommend their traffic violation folks to take in order to hone their ‘attention’ while driving. Ken with the assistance of Devon and a computer designer colleague created ‘Alert Driver’ which is now used across NC & Virginia. Most Alert Driver students love Ken’s course and say it improves their distracted driving skills.
When Ken & Marcia were in their early 40s, they sailed their Westsail 32 ft. sailboat to Bermuda with Devon, who was a college student at the time, and a friend of Ken’s who served earlier in the Navy. This adventure was scary, in a huge storm that pushed ‘Bit-by-Bit’ to Bermuda in 7 days instead of the 9 expected days. Another storm brought them back home to Beaufort in 8 days.
In Ken & Marcia’s 50s, Marcia learned to ride her own motorcycle. The goal was to rent motorcycles in New Zealand and tour the 2 island by Motorcycle. They accomplished their goal in their late 50s. Great memories were made.
Ken dedicated over three decades to developing cutting-edge training and testing programs aimed at enhancing drivers’ attention skills and reducing traffic crashes. Ken & Marcia retired from Profile Associates when they turned 70. Devon continues to administer the course and is now president of Profile Associates.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Ken was a mentor, a storyteller, and a steadfast believer in the power of education to change lives. He will be remembered for his dedication to family, his unshakeable optimism, and his ability to see potential in everyone he met.
Ken and Marcia enjoyed several ship cruises and finally a cross Canada train trip. The last years have been slower as age and a heart attack crept into Ken’s life style. Ken was always a ‘gym rat’ and enjoyed keeping his body
strong. Six years ago they became parents of an Australian mini Labradoodle, ‘Matey’, who has been the fuel of their life together.
Ken is survived by his loving wife, Marcia; son, Devon (Julie); granddaughter, Julia; and, of course, Matey, who will continue to honor his legacy by living with the same curiosity and compassion he modeled every day. He will be deeply missed and forever cherished.
There will be no funeral service. Ken was very clear about this wish. Do send contributions to the American Red Cross, if you would like to honor Ken’s life.
