Milford Anholm John Milford Anholm was born near Hemet, California, February 21, 1923 to Luciel Catherine (McCormick) Anholm and Neils John Anholm. This being the third marriage for each of his parents Milford already had 9 half-brothers and sisters: May, Georgia, Violet, Duerd, Earlene, Billy, Raymond, Frank, and James. His sister Dolores was born 5 years later. Milford’s father emigrated from Denmark to avoid being drafted into the German army. He became a Seventh-day Adventist here in the United States. He worked as a foreman for the Howard Rose Company of Hemet. Milford’s mother was also an Adventist. In January 1930 Luciel died, leaving 6-year old Milford without a mother. Milford attended a small one room, eight-grade school. In September, 1938 at the beginning of his sophomore year at Loma Linda Academy Milford’s father died. So, at the age of 15, Milford was on his own. He worked hard doing odd jobs like running a milk delivery route, mowing lawns, and helping his shop teacher. Lucy Magoon who had worked for Milford’s father took in his sister Dolores and provided some direction and assistance for Milford. She urged him to go to a boarding academy. For his junior year of high school, he attended Laurelwood Academy in Oregon. That is where he met his future wife Louise Boyce. Milford only stayed at Laurelwood Academy for 1 year before returning to southern California. He graduated from Loma Linda Academy then went to Pacific Union College for two years. Dental School. After only 2 years at PUC, because of World War II, Milford started dental school at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco. With both parents gone, times were difficult. To provide for enough money for dental school, he worked nights at the County Hospital. Many times, he didn’t even have five cents in his pocket for the street-car fare in San Francisco so he rode on the street car bumper for free – to and from school. Milford finished dental school in June, 1946, and passed the Dental Board examinations in California, Oregon, and Washington that summer. Military Service. Because of the War and Milford’s ongoing dental school, his military service record is convoluted with him serving in both the army and the navy. It went something like this: In 1942, while at PUC, Milford received a reserve commission in the army as a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Administrative Corps. In 1943, in order for him to receive military support for dental school, Milford resigned his reserve commission and enlisted in the regular army as a Private assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program. On his third day as a Private, he was promoted to Private First Class. After 1 year, the army program that he was serving in was discontinued. He received an honorable discharge from the army. His military service wasn’t over though. After finishing dental school in 1946, he was still required to complete time on active duty in the service. So he joined the Navy in November 1946 as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Dental Corps, serving on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Rendova. Milford’s first real experience travelling was aboard the Rendova, with a trip around the world with stops in many countries. Milford was discharged from the Navy 2 years later in November, 1948. Milford and Louise married on October 12, 1947 – eight years after they had first met, and one year into Milford’s service in the Navy. Louise put many miles on their car that first year, trying to keep up with all the ship’s ports of call along the Pacific coast. Corvallis. In 1949 Milford and Louise moved to Oregon where Milford opened a dental practice in Corvallis. On January 1, 1950, John was born and their second son James followed in 1951. Soon thereafter they purchased an old house in the country. One Friday evening during the fall of 1954 their house caught fire and burned to the ground. The city fire company refused to respond since the house was outside the city limits. The house was on a hilltop where the neighbors could see the fire. They came out in force to help and succeeded in saving the contents of the downstairs living area including the piano and chandeliers, but many family photos and mementos stored in the attic were lost. Milford and Louise rebuilt a new home on the same location. By the winter of 1955 they moved into the basement of the unfinished house. Salem and Loma Linda. By 1957 Milford was having trouble with his hands, which required a year-long break from dentistry. They moved to Salem where Louise managed her parents’ 49-bed nursing home. The Anholm family returned to their home in Corvallis in 1958 but left it again two years later, this time for Loma Linda. Milford had decided that he wanted to take orthodontics. He was one of the two students in the first orthodontics class taught at Loma Linda University, graduating in 1962. After graduating, they returned to their home in Corvallis, where Milford established a busy orthodontics practice. Activities. Milford and Louise were active in the local Seventh-day Adventist church, school, and Pathfinder Club. Family worship was the norm; and mission trips recurred throughout Milford’s life. Travel was always an important part of family life. In 1957, Milford and family drove 400 miles south of the border into Baja, Mexico at Christmas time. The Christmas tree was a live cactus decorated with paper rings. The next year they drove to Mexico City. During the summer of 1961 they drove their recently purchased pickup and camper to Chiapas, Mexico, about 1000 miles south of Mexico City, on a dental mission expedition. Most summer weekends were spent camping throughout the Pacific Northwest. Milford and Louise became avid bird watchers. James and John wanted more adventure so they were often sent on their own either ahead or behind so they would not scare away the birds. The whole family got into bird banding to track the travel and life span of the various bird species. Thailand. After practicing orthodontics only 3 years in Corvallis, in 1965 Milford and Louise accepted a call to mission service in Bangkok, Thailand. Along the way to Thailand they stopped in as many countries as possible – including Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. James and John enrolled in school at Far Eastern Academy in Singapore and Milford became the first orthodontist to serve as a full time missionary. He soon had a thriving orthodontic practice at the Bangkok Adventist Hospital. Vacations were spent traveling in Southeast Asia. Furloughs to the United States included time traveling in Europe and other countries along the way. (How Milford and Louise survived that summer in a small Volkswagen with John, James, and their close friend Gary Watts is a whole different story.) Zimbabwe. In 1972 Milford and Louise returned to the United States. Milford accepted a position in the Department of Orthodontics at the School of Dentistry in Loma Linda. In 1989 Milford volunteered to run the orthodontics office in Harare, Zimbabwe. They spent six years in Zimbabwe and traveled extensively in that part of Africa. In 1994 they returned to Loma Linda where Milford continued to teach in the orthodontic department. His students seemed to appreciate him and he loved working with them. Milford eventually worked for over 40 years in the School of Dentistry. He was awarded many honors including the special honor of having the new Orthodontic Clinic named after him. Final Years. In 2007 Milford and Louise celebrated 60 years of marriage. Just over a year later, in December, 2008 Louise died from breast cancer at the age of 83. Milford carried on, travelling whenever he could and continuing part-time teaching in the Orthodontics’ Department at Loma Linda. In 2013, at age 90 with declining health Milford finally quit teaching, driving and traveling. He continued to live at home with caregivers to assist as his abilities declined. As they got to know him his care givers came to love him. A little over a year ago, he lost the ability to stand and walk. But with excellent care from seven caregivers Milford remained at home. On the afternoon of July 24, 2017, he suddenly went to sleep. He was 94. Milford and Louise were happily married for 61 years. Milford loved life and lived it fully, often in service to others. Some statistics may help put perspective on Milford’s life: During their marriage, Milford and Louise lived in 22 different places. They served as missionaries for 7 years in Thailand and 6 years in Zimbabwe. Milford went on approximately 30 short term mission trips mostly involving dental work. Milford believed in Christian education and helped multiple students over the years to get a Christian education. Milford loved to travel and visited over 100 different countries (and all 7 continents) during his life.