Osborne Mills, Jr.

Osborne Mills, Jr. (“Os” to friends and often “Obbie” to family) died on February 25th, 2025 surrounded by family after a years-long fight with cancer. He was born in Cleveland on July 11, 1947 to Osborne Mills and Margaret Swan Mills.

Os is survived by his wife of 25 years, Loren Elizabeth Bendall; by his daughters, Victoria Ford Mills LaFave (Charles), Christine Mills Stovell (Peter), Margaret Osborne Mills and Anne Bendall Mills; by his three grandchildren, Katherine Monroe Stovell, Peter Osborne Stovell and James Whitford Stovell; by his younger siblings, Margaret Mills Plumpton (John) and Wiliam Mann Mills (Laurie); by numerous nieces and nephews; and by his former wife, Victoria Ford Pirchner. His beloved daughter Katherine Swan Berrian Mills and younger brother James Marian Mills predeceased him.

Os was a 1965 graduate of University School and then a 1969 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he was a member of the freshman and varsity soccer teams, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Green Key Society and Sphinx senior society. After Dartmouth he served three years active duty in the United States Marine Corps, being discharged from active duty as a captain. He came to believe that, after family, his time in the Marines was one of the most beneficial experiences of his life.

Following the Marines, Os graduated from Case Western Reserve College of Law in 1975 and began a 45+ year career as a transactional lawyer. He practiced first with Burke, Haber & Berick Co. LPA, which he left with five other partners to form Berick, Pearlman & Mills Co. LPA in 1986. In 2000 Berick, Pearlman & Mills merged into, and Os became a partner of, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP (now Squire Patton Boggs LLP), from which he retired in 2020. His early practice of law concentrated in real estate and thereafter in debt finance, in which he became a highly regarded practitioner, being described in the Chambers rating service in various years to be “the dean of commercial lending in Cleveland” and “one of the most highly respected lawyers in the state.”

Os was a member of the Union Club, the Mayfield Sand Ridge Club and the Court of Nisi Prius. He was also a life-long member of Fairmount Presbyterian Church, where he taught Sunday school, was a member of the Personnel Committee and the Memorial Committee, and served as a Deacon, a Trustee, and an Elder.

Os loved outdoor work on his Ford and International Harvester tractors and with his chainsaw in his woods, and the resulting warmth of his wood stoves, in both Chesterland and Bentleyville. His true recreational passion, however, was canoeing and tent camping, especially in the Temagami region of northern Ontario, which he did for over forty years and as recently as 2023.

Services for Os will be held at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118 on March 8th, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, gifts be made either to (i) the Katherine S.B. Mills Fund at Laurel School, One Lyman Circle, Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122 or (ii) the Katherine S.B. Mills Fund at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118.

The service will be live-streamed on the church website and YouTube channel at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8th.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@fpccle 

Website: https://fpccle.org/online-worship/