James Millard Van Dien

1907 - 1987  (80 years)

• Name	James Millard Van Dien
  Birth	30 Apr 1907	Newfoundland, Passaic County, New Jersey   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Note	Grandpa was a talented man. Besides being an able carpenter, electrician, plumber, and architect; he also wrote poetry and composed songs. He designed a house using his eight sided dome that he designed and built for the NJ School of Conservation. This house had two domes. One larger one of two stories and a smaller one for the garage. A connector was built to bring them together. The large dome had a spiral staircase with a skylight at the top. In the upstairs bedrooms there were built in dressers. The downstairs had the living room, dining room and master bedroom. The connector contained the kitchen and laundry rooms. David Van Dien assisted in building this house. It was off of route 206 in New Jersey. The house was sold and was destroyed by fire a few years later. Rheba tells of how he was able to calculate in his head the amount of materials needed for a project. There was a construction project that needed an amount of coils to heat a particular building. As the foreman designing this project stated this, Grandpa stated it would be this many feet of coil needed. The man looked at him and stated that he had college graduates who would calculate the amount needed. He asked them to figure out how much was needed. They got out their instruments and came out with two very different figures, one of which was completely unrealistic. The foreman again asked the men to refigure the numbers. Grandpa did as well. Again the numbers the men came up with was totally unrealistic. Finally, the foreman stated he would do the calculations and began using his tools to do the work. His calculations were within inches of Grandpa's calculations. He asked how Grandpa was able to this in his head. Grandpa looked at him said, well it's x number of feet per link, x number of inches for each bend and x number of feet long. He simply added that up in his head. New Jersey School of Conservation had a 50th anniversary (June 5, 1999)and commemorated former employees who have since died. Regina M. Kelly, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, had this to say about Millard Van Dien. 'Millard Van Dien, maintenance supervisor for 24 years, since the beginning of SOC's operations, raised, with/ his wife Leona, their 6children in the faculty housing facilities that we today call Cayuga and VIP 1. Millard had worked with Dr. LB Sharp at the trailblazer camps. They cooperatively designed the structure known as the 'shadien' which was used in many of the early programs at SOC. Another of Millard's creations is the Dien Dome, examples of which are still in use in SOC programs--- the Trading Post (just outside) and the Lapidary dome (on the Sequoya campus.) Until the late 1980's the decentralized camping units for teenagers in the Camp Wapalanne program that we called Sam Houston (now gone) and Molly Pitcher, the site of the present day climbing wall, also were groupings of these domes. I spent summer of 1969 there, as unit leader of the Molly Pitcher Unit-- which used to be called 'Kit Carson Unit.' Millard was a kind and gentle man, with an incredibly dry wit, as well as being a master builder, a master draftsman and a master craftsman who took enormous pride in his workmanship-- and justly so! He was extraordinarily talented. He retired 25 years ago and I can still in my minds eye see him testing for a break in the electric lines in Long House--- [straight] pins... [he placed one in the line with one hand and another in the line with the other hand. If he felt a jolt he would travel down the line until he didn't feel the jolt between his two hands.] (time permitting: tell how he tested for a leak in the gaslines-- ran his lighter down the lines until flame flared)
  Reference Number	17401
  Death	25 May 1987	North Port, Sarasota County, Florida   [1, 2]
  Burial	Venice, Florida   [1]
  Person ID	I17312	Maybee Society
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Leona Edna Barrett,   b. 8 Nov 1905, Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey d. 15 Feb 2000, Califon, Hunterdon County, New Jersey (Age 94 years)
  Marriage	27 Oct 1927  [1]
  Children	+ 1. Phyllis Barrett Van Dien,   b. 8 Sep 1928, Greenpond, Morris County, New Jersey d. 28 May 2005 (Age 76 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural] + 2. Living + 3. Living + 4. Living + 5. Living + 6. Living
  Family ID	F4342	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024

  
  

• Sources

  [S190] Fred L Hammond, Fred Hammond, Maybee Society member 301; Date: 5 July 2001; Location: CTAvery207@aol.com; Number: 301. [S2] Social SecurityDeath Index; Url: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/ssdi/, and Florida Death Index, 1877-1998.