Brent R. Miille

Brent Miille, beloved 5th & 6th grade teacher at Valley Oak and Korematsu Elementary Schools, passed away on November 9th, 2022.

Brent was born on October 29th, 1958 in Wichita, Kansas to Bob and Anne Miille. He was the fourth of five children. He is survived by his siblings Michael (Mary Patricia), Susan (John) and Ellen. He is preceded in death by his sister Christine (Bob).

His military family moved around the country, landing in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and eventually settling in Fallbrook, California. In Fallbrook, Brent played high school football, baseball and wrestled. After high school, Brent attended UC Davis where he received a B.S. in Physical Education. Following his tenure at UC Davis, Brent received a teaching credential at Sacramento State University.

Brent worked tirelessly for Davis students for over 30 years. “Mr. Miille” or “Coach” was well known for his flag football tournaments, field trips to Walker Creek outdoor education camp, safety patrol that welcomed students to school and spirit day assemblies. Many students particularly enjoyed the end of the year field day celebrations Brent put together. For many years he had a weight bench behind his desk so he could get in a workout during his lunch break. He also enjoyed going out to lunch with his friends on school days when he wasn’t working out or running flag football tournaments.

Brent was surrounded by groups of friends who always stuck by him. He stayed lifelong friends with his college roommates Geller, Hall and Imbach (Buffy). At Valley Oak and Korematsu, Brent was a member of the “Tres Amigos” with his dear friends Allen Carlson and Bob Creely. They spent many lunchtimes together enjoying the Dos Coyotes porch and talking about sports. Outside of school, Brent was fortunate to be surrounded by great friends including John Wilson, Steve Bowman, Jorge Loyola and Marc Monachello. Marc was there when Brent hit his one and only over-the-fence home run, in which Brent would remind everyone it was one more than Marc ever hit. On Friday nights, Brent and his friends enjoyed attending local high school football games.
On weekends Brent loved riding his bike on the American River bike trail or on the bike trails around Davis.

Brent spent many of his years coaching. While in college, he started coaching Little League Baseball and Pee-Wee Football. He then moved on to coaching Junior Varsity Baseball for his beloved Davis High Blue Devils. Much of his after school time was then spent removing water after a rainstorm from the JV field in order to play. He also coached his son’s travel baseball teams. Brent’s motto was to play hard and to be a good teammate. He would often yell “down and ready”, “get your uniform dirty” and “see the ball, hit the ball” in his larger than life teacher voice. He would constantly remind his players “don’t let anyone outhustle you.”

In 1982, Brent met the love of his life, Sue Brandow. They met while Sue was working as a nanny for Brent’s brother Michael. In 1985, they married at the Davis Community Church. Brent and Sue have three wonderful children. Jed followed in Brent’s footsteps as “Mr. Miille”, teaching 4th grade at Willett Elementary. Ema is a therapist helping children and teens in Davis. Jake is a firefighter for the City of Chico.

Brent has one granddaughter, Tori, who was the light of his life. Tori would often run into the house yelling “BUBBA!” in which Brent would respond “who loves you baby?”

Our family would like to thank the staff at Carlton Senior Living for taking such wonderful care of Brent over these last few months. Life came full circle as several of his previous students are Carlton employees. They made him and his family feel loved and connected.

A small family service will be organized at a later date. Please share memories and photos of Brent in the comments below.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Carlton Staff Holiday Fund:
https://gofund.me/04c39328