Fisherman, husband, son, father, grandfather, friend, U.S. Public Health Service Captain, and founder of “Raven Fork Rods” James Edwards Mills, 84, of Whittier, N.C., passed away peacefully on Monday, June 16, 2025 after a brief and sharp bout with cancer.
Jim spent his days in constant motion – from his youth on an eastern North Carolina tobacco farm to his days in the Great Smoky Mountains, rising early with his beloved black lab by his side and working tirelessly into the evening. Work and service were his salve and brought meaning to his life.
Jim joined the U.S. Public Health Service Indian Health Service in 1964, serving Native American tribes nationwide – first as a pharmacist and then leading the building, design, and modernization of health clinics on reservations east of the Mississippi River. In the late sixties, while still working as a pharmacist, Jim was instrumental in securing grants to improve vaccination and sanitation infrastructure on the Qualla Boundary. This holistic approach to improving healthcare led to his critical work in helping establish the Cherokee Indian Hospital in 1980. In appreciation for all these efforts, Jim was named an honorary member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Grounded in his faith, Jim shared it in big ways and small. Prayers were ever on his lips and in his heart for those he encountered, often spontaneously joining friends and strangers in lifting requests heavenward. He was a faithful prayer partner to many close friends and family members. Jim also was a decades-long member of the Gideons, participated in the Walk to Emmaus, served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Bryson City First Baptist Church, and sung in church choirs throughout his life.
Nothing was more important to Jim than community. He loved people and built close relationships with everyone – creating bonds of mutual respect and love through inquiry, listening, laughter, storytelling, empathy, caring, and generosity. Jim shared gifts of food, time, work, and instruction with many. You were blessed and loved when you received a fresh mess of fish, his famous fudge, pecan brittle, chicken and rice soup, or summer tomatoes. Always a special time was steaming fresh oysters with friends in Ronnie Henderson’s garage.
His greatest joy and many of his deepest relationships revolved around fishing. Intimacy with nature was his prayer of gratitude. His passion was unraveling the ongoing puzzle of catching fish through experimentation and invention. At a young age, he fished, crabbed, and set nets in the creeks and rivers of Eastern North Carolina with his parents, later learning to fly fish the streams of the Smokies with his father-in-law, Med Messer, and his wife’s uncle, Red Nolen. He built lifelong friendships camping and fishing the Appalachians with Kenny Blankenship, Eddie Almond, and the rest of the Bone Valley gang. A special joy was found in annual October fishing trips to Montana where he fished for the much sought-after Montana Derby with Tom Underwood and an extended circle of friends from Western North Carolina. Jim also adored fishing western waters with his son Chris. In recent years, Jim took up fishing nymphs in deeper water. Experimenting with new fly-tying materials and methods with local fishing buddy Jim Estes brought many hours of creativity and joy. Jim loved mornings spent with friends cooking freshly caught fish on the creek bank.
Jim also ran his own fly rod building and repair business, “Raven Fork Rods,” where he made nearly 3,000 glass, bamboo, and fiberglass rods over the last 60 years.
Jim is preceded in death by his parents, James Junior Mills and Vivian Edwards Mills of Greenville, N.C. He is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara of 64 years; children, Chris (Jennifer) and Marissa (Bronson); and grandchildren, Jordan (Cam) and Emery.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 13, at Bryson City First Baptist Church, 37 Church Avenue, Bryson City, N.C. Fishermen and women, please bring your fly rods to the ceremony. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. in the sanctuary, and service will begin at 2 p.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the following or to the charity of your choice.
- Caring Ministries, 820 W. Calle Sur, Tucson, AZ 85705. This is a community food bank in Arizona that Jim has supported since his time serving the Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation in the sixties.
- Gideons International Jackson County Camp, 526 West Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779.