John James Milliken

John James Milliken, age 87 of Greensboro, GA, passed away peacefully Friday April 25, 2025 surrounded by his loving family.  John was born in Bellville GA in 1937 and was raised by his grandparents in Vidalia GA.  He moved to Atlanta in his senior year where he graduated from Bass High School.  He attended Georgia Tech and earned an Associate’s Degree. 

His career spanned over 30 years working his way up at Southern Bell, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill New Jersey, and then back to Atlanta with Bell South where he was the Director of Planning and Strategic Development. He designed and implemented data communication systems and was involved in protocols in the early development of the internet.  An achievement he was especially proud of was the design of data ground communications for NASA.

He then moved to Connecticut and worked for General DataComm where he oversaw the sales and manufacturing of electronic equipment.

Retiring at age 59, he moved back to Georgia to Lake Oconee.  He promptly jumped into public service where at age 60 he became a volunteer fireman, a first responder, and an arson investigator.  In Morgan County, he was on the Tax Assessors Board, was Chief Voter Registrar and on the Election Board.  He was on the Hospital Authority Board for Morgan Memorial Hospital where he implemented many changes that helped the hospital. 

John was a man of strong faith.  He is survived by his wife JoAnne, daughters Susan Blackburn (Marlin) of Sugar Hill and Gail Davis (Kent) of Eatonton, grandchildren Alex Davis and Anna Davis.  He was predeceased by his grandparents Susan Ella Lynn and John Lester Lynn of Vidalia, his parents Encell Lynn and Andrew Milliken, and his wife of over 50 years, Annette Thurmond Milliken.

A celebration of life will be held at First Methodist Church Greensboro Lake Oconee on Carey Station Road on Saturday May 3, 2025 at 11 AM.

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