“We saw our children literally grow here,” Steve Millard said. “There were two engagements that took place here, birthday parties constantly; I mean, it’s just, it’s nonstop and there’s been a lot of sadness here, too. I had a widow-maker heart attack in this house just a few years ago. She had cancer in the house just a few years ago.”
Steve, a recently retired CEO and leader in the software industry, grew up in San Francisco and Chicago, frequently moving from new home to new home as the family followed their father’s career opportunities. At the start of his own career with IBM in Anchorage, Alaska, with Suzanne and their first baby in tow, a home base is something they desired. Suzanne, a Centerville City Schools administrator of 17 years, only knew one childhood home in Centerville, and Steve longed for the same consistency in their life.
In 1988, the Millards left The Last Frontier and chose the Dayton area as their final destination to be closer to Suzanne’s family. Four years later, they moved one last time into a four-bedroom, five-bathroom home of a little over 6,000 square feet and never looked back.
“I was thinking two or three steps ahead,” Steve said. “I thought, you know what? When I retire and I’m 61, when I’m done, I want to have everybody, if I can, nearby and have continuity, and have those sorts of things.”
That vision came to fruition, as the Millards’ three children and six grandchildren, all ages 10 and younger, still live in the Dayton area today. Despite various chapters of his career being headquartered out of San Francisco, Boston, London and beyond, after every professional obligation, Steve flew home to the Miami Valley.
“For both of us, the health scares were pretty significant, really significant,” Suzanne said. “And I think when you have something like that happen, you just really put everything into perspective. … We love our home. I mean, can you improve it? Of course, always.”
As Steve’s career grew over the decades, like his father, opportunities to uproot the family to a big, often international, city were often presented. There were times the family considered, envisioning the pros and cons of an exciting East or sunny West Coast life in place of their Midwest comforts and familiarities.
Each time, however, the Millards took stock of the irreplaceable moments they shared in their home in their tree-covered, close-knit neighborhood and decided they already had everything they needed.
“We just had two of our little grandkids over here and, and the one the little boy was just clinging to Suzanne, and the little girl was clinging to me, And I’m thinking you know what in a previous life, meaning just a few years ago, I would be somewhere else in the world, and I would never have (this). So, to me, this house, I think represents stability, represents sacrifice.”
Christmas Eve is now 25 to 30 family members and friends under one roof, with the grandchildren sleeping in the same bedrooms that their parents grew up in. An arcade gaming room with the works, stocked bar included, is where all the dads can usually be found during the annual family gatherings.
The backyard’s pool has been a cornerstone for summer memories, while the large stone fireplace hearth poolside has been the stage for countless evenings for 15 years.
“You know, a lot of our peers, they’re all moving on, they’re downsizing,” Steve said. “They’re moving to other areas or smaller houses, and they probably would say to me, ‘This (is just) bricks and mortar,’ but it’s not. I mean, this house is a part of the family. It just is. It’s how I look at it. It’s seen us through our best times. It’s seen us through some of our most difficult times. And as I tell my kids … I said, ‘You will take me out of here in a box.’”
It’s the home itself — the history within the walls and halls, the etchings in the door marking the children’s heights on their first and last days of school — that gets credit for creating an invaluable backdrop for the Millards. However, the Dayton region has played no small part in keeping the family anchored to the Midwest all those times they had a chance to expand.
“I used to work on both coasts, as well as in London for most of my career,” Steve said. “I’d have these pompous people come to me and say, ‘What do you do in Dayton, Ohio?’ And I finally got this answer down, pat, (because) I got sick of it. I’m like, ‘I’ll tell you what I do. I do everything you do, (and) I do it for a third of the cost.’ … I’m very proud of this area. I defend this area. I think it’s done great things, and I’m really excited about the future.”
In two weeks, the Millards are starting a massive, 900-square-foot renovation to replace their deck with a screened-in porch area that overlooks their pool and backyard vegetation. It’s one of many reimaginings that have taken place over three decades, and it likely won’t be the last.
Paint colors, wallpapers and furniture might rotate as time passes, but the family’s story will forever happily continue at the same Washington Twp. address.
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