Steven Mcmillan

G. Steven McMillan (“Steve,” "Dad," and “G”), 68, of Jenkintown, PA, passed away Sunday, May 5th, suddenly at home of a heart attack. Steve was born in High Point, NC on January 9, 1956, the son of the late Ola Cornelia (Causey) and Lester Robert McMillan. Steve is survived by, and will be intensely missed by, his wife, Debbi Casey and their five children – Emily McMillan, Mikayla Casey, Michael Casey, Matthew Casey, and Liam Casey.

As a young man, Steve left home after one year of college to join the U.S. Navy. He served on the USS Brumby as a radio operations specialist. After his service, he finished college at UNC Greensboro, earning a BA in Economics with honors and, as he often told his students, where he tripled his GPA from his first college attempt. Next, he earned an MBA with honors at The American University in Washington, DC. He made Philadelphia his home when he joined Rouse & Associates. He worked on a variety of real estate development projects, the most exciting of which was One Liberty Place – Philadelphia’s first skyscraper towering above William Penn’s hat.

Steve studied in Temple University’s Fox School of Business, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in General and Strategic Management with a minor in Human Resource Management in 1995. His first teaching job was with the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. At both places at this critical time in his life, he was grateful to have had inspiring mentors and to have formed incredible friendships.

In 1998, he started in a role as an Assistant Professor at Penn State Abington in the newly established Business degree. He earned promotion and tenure (early!) in 2002, the same year he won the Lion Heart Award, and has been an Associate Professor of Business there ever since.

Steve loved his job. He loved teaching his students in a variety of business strategy, ethics, and management classes. He loved working with students on their ACURA research projects, serving as the faculty athletic liaison, and taking students on study abroad embedded course trips to Malta. He particularly loved working on his research about corporate policies of openness or secrecy with scientific information and the resulting competitive intelligence implications. Awarded multiple Fulbright Grants for research and teaching, he traveled to Belgium, Finland, and Malta many times to work with colleagues around the world. Malta became his home away from home, both in his heart and his clothing motif.

Beyond his professional career, Steve adored and prized his role as a father. His role began in 1998, when he and his then wife, Susan (Jablow) McMillan, traveled to China and adopted a daughter, Emily. Even beyond the end of the marriage, Emily quickly became Penn State’s youngest business student, constantly accompanying her dad to class, the duck pond, and everything in between.

Not one to think small, Steve expanded his fatherly repertoire to add four more children and a new title – “G!” – when he and Debbi Casey joined forces in 2004. Whether it was during long road trips with a packed car, visits to the Penn State Computer Lab, or a month-long traipse across the Maltese islands, his fun-loving, easy-going attitude made every day an adventure.

G was up for anything. He embraced entertaining the parade of pets and friends that his children insisted on bringing by. As long as he had his coffee. He cherished simply sitting and chatting on the porch in Jenkintown. As long as he had his coffee. He loved live music, road trips, bingeing TV series, the Outer Banks, Cape May, and New Orleans. As long as he had his coffee. He loved his Debbi every day with his whole heart in every way he could. With or without his coffee.

As a business professor, Steve always said, “the key to success is flexibility.” His flexibility was tested in December 2019 when he was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer. Immediately, he began working with a great team of doctors at Penn Medicine, led by Dr. Bagley. Steve trusted his medical team and did everything he could to stay here with us as long as he could. This tested him physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. A man with a strong and well-earned network of support, Steve relied on his family, his friends, and himself. Steve rallied.

Demonstrating that flexibility, he pivoted to a lifelong dream of being a fiction writer. He began writing hard-boiled detective fiction in a book about a Temple professor named Ben Stone – “Accounting Can Be Murder.” Steve’s work was encouraged by winning an award, being published, and having a trusted guild of friends to read and critique his work. The first book led to the next, and the next, and the next (check Amazon for the “Accounting…” series). His “Accounting…” writing grew into his avocation and then his true passion. He was so happy sitting on the couch with his computer and his canine writing assistants Bodie, Pluto, and Kelly. Steve created plotlines, sending Ben Stone into new dilemmas in new places all over the world.

In a plot twist even Steve couldn’t have seen coming, Steve’s death wasn’t as predicted – it was suddenly on a Sunday night as he prepared for bed. A heart attack stopped his heart and he died instantly, at home, with no suffering, and cancer-free.

Steve led a full life, to be sure, and each chapter of Steve’s life has a common theme. To each of his loved ones, in each of their own ways, G brought his full self and full attention. He was a true listener. He was authentic. He was open, and willing to be vulnerable. He was strong and soft in all the right places.

Nobody cheats death, but Steve beat the odds in a big way. He was so thankful to have that time together, and he used it well – for his writing, for his friends, for his family.

Given G’s love of animals, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Pennsylvania SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals) at www.pspca.org.

Relatives and friends are invited to his viewing on Saturday May 11, 2024 from 9:30 AM to 11 AM at the Joseph J. McGoldrick Funeral Home, 507 West Ave. in Jenkintown, PA. A Religious Service will be held at 11 AM.

Condolences: www.McGoldrickFH.com