Jerry Wayne Mill

Jerry Wayne Mill, of Centennial, Colorado died peacefully February 10, 2024. He was 78. Jerry was born on May 25, 1945, in Fort Collins, Colorado, to Katherine E. Mill (1906-1953) and Alexander Emanuel (Alex) Mill (1904-1964). Jerry had five older sisters Marian Meyer, Idabelle Matlock, Evelyn Currie, Rose Marie Curtis and Carolyn Eyraud who have all passed. Jerry’s sisters helped to raise him after his mom passed away when Jerry was only 8 years old. Jerry is survived by four nieces and two nephews.

Jerry graduated from Analy High School in Sebastopol, CA in 1963 and went on to graduate from University of California, Berkley with a B.S. in Physics in 1967. He immediately went to work on his dream job at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. He worked as a Guidance Flight Controller at Mission Control, for the Apollo moon program. He still had the telegram from NASA offering him a job in 1967. Jerry was part of every Apollo moon landing mission, providing critical guidance calculations and analysis to ensure the Apollo Command Module and Lunar Lander would reach the precise orbit and landing location on the moon. He worked closely with all of the Apollo astronauts and flight controllers, keeping in touch by attending the annual Apollo reunions in Houston, TX.

After the Apollo program came to an end in 1972, Jerry worked on the NASA Space Shuttle program, developing the Space Shuttle simulators to train the astronauts to fly and operate the Space Shuttle.

In 1980, Jerry left NASA and moved to Littleton, CO to work for Martin Marietta on the Space Shuttle Payload Integration Contract where he met his long-time friend Walt Faulconer. Jerry continued his work training a new generation of astronauts to operate the Space Shuttle. After the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986 Jerry decided to make a career change and pursue his interest in financial investing. He completed a Financial Analyst Master of Science Degree from the University of Denver. He then became a financial stock analyst and portfolio manager for Invesco mutual funds. Later, he started Mill Asset Management, Inc. providing investment advice and personal investment portfolio management.

Jerry loved to travel and go camping and hiking around Colorado. You would often see Jerry skiing, hiking the beautiful Colorado fourteeners or riding his mountain bike with many of his friends. He loved tinkering on and driving his classic 1967 Corvette Sting Ray that he had purchased from Astronaut Dick Gordon of Apollo 12. Jerry enjoyed many years of dancing at the Stampede in Denver with his friends and longtime girlfriend Benedetta Manocchio.

A special heartfelt thanks to Benedetta, his close friends Pat, Bob and Mike, and his loving caregivers at Brookdale, who took exceptionally wonderful care of him for the last two years of his life.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the ALS Association, Wilson Blvd, Ste 600, Arlington, VA 22209.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring.