Julia Huber

Julia Huber was born on July 3, 1936 in Barberton, OH, the only child of Paul Watt McMillen, an engineer who fought and was gassed in WWI, and Enid Virginia (‘Virginia’) Lawrence McMillen, whose teaching career was mostly devoted to handicapped children.  Julia passed away on November 24, 2021.

Julia attended Barberton public schools where she was double promoted and Salutatorian of a class of 400.  She worked at the Barberton Public Library as a page, then in a local shoe store.  She grew up in the Barberton Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday School from an early age.  She went to the College of Wooster majoring in speech and almost another major in English.  Active in drama, she choreographed, wrote music, acted, did stage sets and wrote plays.  She also toured with the Girl’s Chorus, singing alto.  Considering going into television production, she went to Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois for graduate work.  In 1962 she was employed by Mechanical Industries.  She continued her drama work with local theatre and taught English Composition in Akron University’s evening division, not knowing that her husband-to-be was teaching advanced mathematics there.

A cousin of Joe Huber, Jr. who worked at Mechanical Industries urged her to go out with his cousin and made the same suggestion to Joe.  They both rejected the suggestion because of his flamboyance, but, when ‘talked into one’ date they went to see the play Kismet.  It was kismet!

They considered themselves one of the rare perfect couples with much in common and with trust and strong abiding love.  They married October 17, 1964 and had two sons whom they took on cross-country trips centered on history, great homes and amusement parks.  She did much ad hoc home schooling, teaching her boys to read at a young age.

Her husband’s work involved much foreign travel, and she did the things for house and family, as well as the local community.  Once her sons were in school she volunteered with a number of community organizations.  At Northminster Presbyterian Church (UPC) she started a telephone checkup chain which became the Prayer Chain and a Craft Guild, staying with them until the end.  She started and led many church fundraisers and started and led the Pioneer Club which she grew from 6 to 22.  She served as a Ruling Elder and was involved with Sunday School for over 50 years, even training students to teach.  She retired from being Sunday School Superintendent at 84.  She was also a member of the Akron Woman’s City Club.

With her husband, she entertained frequently, both for his business connections and others.  They held over 45 New Year’s Eve parties.  After he retired, they formed Airesources Inc., an Ohio corporation which was a Lockheed Martin subcontractor, where she served as CEO.

In the 1980’s the family traveled to Europe for a month and lived on the island of Crete for three months.  After Joe’s retirement they spent a month driving 4,000 miles exploring the length and breadth of Great Britain.

Their sons did very well at Cornell and married fellow classmates.  The elder, Joseph McMillen (known as Jay to the family) married Megan Kelly and they have Benjamin and Rhea; and the younger, John Jefferson married Janine Blanchard and they have James, Brian and Jack (John Henry).  She and her husband were immensely proud of their son’s great careers and their grandchildren’s accomplishments.

She was active in PEO (Chapter CS), serving as Chapter President and as Vice President for a number of years.  She attended her husband’s organizations dinners and for many years they were in a bridge group with three older couples.

Cousins established that her lines include going back to the ship Plantation arriving in 1626, a Revolutionary War soldier (making her eligible for Daughters of the American Revolution – which she avoided), Phillip Sherman who went with William Rogers to found Rhode Island and served as its first Sec. of the Colony and a Sherman, Deputy to Oliver Cromwell in England in the mid-1650s.  When in the South where her in-laws lived, she did not mention she was a 7th cousin, 7 times removed to the Georgia march Sherman.

Julia and her husband were avid readers, reading and assembling a library of over 15,000 books.  Her interests included domestic architecture (she designed their condo), literature and British mysteries.  She decorated their home for each season and holiday, including decorating each Christmas with grand displays.

She was a great needleworker and produced many items as gifts and for the church craft sales.  A great cook, she was frequently asked for her recipes, which she shared generously.

Julia and her husband celebrated 57 years of marriage.  She will be greatly missed.

Visitation will be held on Friday, December 17, 2021, from 4pm to 7pm at the Clifford Shoemaker Funeral Home, 1930 Front Street Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221. Funeral services will be held on December 18, 2021, at Northminster Presbyterian Church at 2pm.