TRAVERSE CITY -- John Grawn Milliken, longtime physician, local medical pioneer, champion of the arts, avid boater and older brother of former Gov. William G. Milliken, died Tuesday at Munson Hospice House at age 88 of cancer.
Friends and family remembered him as someone who always was open to new things and who enjoyed life to the fullest.
"His approach to life will always remain an inspiration for me," said Bill Howard, a physician coaxed by Milliken to town in 1975 to help in his practice.
Milliken was a member of the well-known local family whose Milliken's Department Store anchored downtown Traverse City for decades.
Yet he chose at a young age to go into medicine and was on the cutting edge of physicians to locate an office next to Munson Medical Center for patients' convenience. The Milliken Medical Building grew to include several practitioners. He practiced medicine until age 84.
He spearheaded the Milliken Inn, a lodging place for the out-of-town families of patients, also near the hospital.
Milliken always sought the latest developments in radiology and other imaging technologies for his office, Howard said. He led the way among local doctors in office computerization.
"He was keeping up and looking ahead," Howard said. "He always asked, 'How can the internist better serve his patients?'"
He also helped save one of the family businesses, the Acme Line Manufacturing Co., that made sprayers and potato seed planters, even as he established his medical practice, his brother, William Milliken said.
"John played a very active role during the difficult years of that factory and became very knowledgeable about it," the former governor said. "He had very close involvement and was very helpful to my father."
William Milliken also remembers their "great early life together" on East Bay in Acme.
And while John attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, William went to Yale in Connecticut.
The brothers shared a Ford convertible in those days.
"We would drive together out east and had great fun doing that," he said. "But when we got there, it was a constant competition about who was going to get the car."
He also remembers his brother for having diverse interests, including politics. And he was a progressive Republican.
"He was very supportive of me all the years I was a governor and of all of my progressive tendencies," Gov. Milliken said.
When John served on the Traverse City Commission in the 1960s, he tried to persuade the city to not build its power plant on the bay. He was in the minority and the plant remained there until it was torn down this decade.
"He took the position that we would regret it someday," he said. "And he and I thought it was the best thing that could happen when it was removed."
They talked politics within the past few days and John told him he supported Barack Obama for president, William Milliken said.
John Milliken loved boating and tennis and did both well into his 80s.
Howard recalled Milliken actively supporting the local arts with his wife Elnora, who started the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Traverse City Civic Players, which later became the Old Town Playhouse.
"The thing that my wife and I feel so strong about is his and Elnora's personalities," Howard said. "They were just great to be with and work with in and out of the office."
Elnora said he continued to smile during his final days at hospice. She played the violin and piano for him and they watched old family movies on DVD.
"He smiled a lot," she said. "He loved life and he loved Traverse City. He loved to dance. When I played the violin and piano, he was so happy."
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