We wish to honor W. Floyd Millet our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather our hero. He passed away on June 17, 2000.
Floyd was born Oct. 17, 1911, in Mesa, AZ, to William Alma and Lillian E. Hurler Millet. He married Vera Jackson Aug. 13, 1939, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
Floyd graduated from Mesa High School and attended Gila Junior College in Thatcher, AZ. He attended Brigham Young University on an athletic scholarship from 1931 through 1934. During this time he earned nine varsity letters in football, basketball, and track. He was named allconference in basketball for two years, in football for 1 year, and he set an AAU record in the broad jump. In Floyd's senior year he was the recipient of the J. Edwin Stein Award as the outstanding scholar-athlete at BYU.
He received a Bachelor's Degree from BYU in 1934 and a Master's Degree from the University of Southern California in 1939.
Following his graduation from BYU, he began his coaching career at Davis High School in Kaysville, UT, as head football and baseball coach, and assistant basketball coach.
In 1937 he returned to BYU to coach football, basketball, and track. His 1942 team was the first BYU team to ever beat the University of Utah in football. That same year his basketball team was also the first BYU team to be invited to play in Madison Square Garden in New York City. His 1948 team won the conference basketball title, and that year Floyd received the Dale Rex Memorial Award honoring the Utahn contributing the most to athletics.
In 1949, Floyd left athletics to pursue business opportunities in Salt Lake City. During this time he remained active, becoming an excellent badminton player. He and Vera also enjoyed great times with groups of friends golfing, dancing, traveling, and many other activities.
In 1963 he was called back to BYU as Athletic Director. In that capacity he established the National Cougar Club and administered the construction of Cougar Stadium and the Marriott Center on the BYU campus. He also served on the organizing committee that set up the Fiesta Bowl. In 1976, the year he retired, Floyd was inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame.
For 19 years he was a member of the YMMIA General Board of the LDS Church, and served as chairman of the All-Church Athletic Committee for five of those years. During the 1980 Winter Olympics, Floyd and Vera served a mission as directors of the LDS Church visitors center in Lake Placid, New York.
The most important thing in Floyd's life was his family. He and Vera are the parents of four children, F. Jackson Millet, M.D. (Marian Daynes), Salt Lake City, Michael B. Millet (Dixie Smith), Pleasant Grove, Robert W. Millet (Elaine Wilson), Orem, and Colleen Hanks (Gordon), Draper; 29 grandchildren; and 27 great-grandchildren.
Services will be 12 noon, Wed., June 21, at the Oak Hills 9th Ward Chapel, 1960 No. 1500 East, Provo. Friends may call at Berg Mortuary, 185 E. Center Street, Provo, 6-8 p.m., Tues, or at the chapel one hour prior to the services. Interment, Provo City Cemetery.