Jeffrey Bay Miltenberger met Sally Shull at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where they both studied biology, because she had a car and he needed transportation to a bog for a class project. She apparently obliged, because several years later, on Sept. 17, 1966, they were married.
After college, Mr. Miltenberger, who was known as Jeff, worked briefly for Hooker Chemical and then, from 1972 to 1992, for Abbott Laboratories, where he was manager of information systems. As such, according to his family, he was one of the early information technology specialists, “originally carrying briefcases of computer punch cards, then a large dial-up modem, and eventually a laptop.”
Mr. Miltenberger, who spent summers in East Hampton from 2005 to 2019, died of Parkinson’s disease on Friday at Shorehaven Health and Rehabilitation Center in Oconomowoc, Wis. He was 81 and had been ill for seven years.
Born in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 1942, to William Ernest Miltenberger and the former Helen Wagner, he grew up in Glendale, Mo. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern, he lived in Libertyville, Ill., until retiring in 1992.
Mr. Miltenberger was a sailor who shared his passion with his two daughters on Lake Michigan and elsewhere. After retiring, because he wanted to live “where he could always wear sandals,” he divided his time among Hawthorn Woods, Ill., Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and East Hampton.
In Puerto Vallarta, he was president of the Navy League, which established liaisons with U.S. Navy ships to provide volunteers for projects in disadvantaged neighborhoods and to facilitate fund-raisers and toy distribution for Toys for Tots.
When not on the water, Mr. Miltenberger enjoyed spy novels, dogs, convertibles, peanut butter, chunky monkey ice cream, and pineapple upside-down cake, his family said.
His wife, with whom he traveled extensively, died of cancer on Oct. 9, 2009.
Mr. Miltenberger’s survivors include his daughters, Amy Byrne of Watertown, Wis., and Julie Miltenberger of Jackson Heights, N.Y., as well as a brother, Randy Miltenberger of Kirkwood, Mo., and a sister, Jan Terry of Wakefield, R.I. He also leaves four grandsons, Alexander, Julian, Laurence, and Henry. His cocker spaniel, Millie, was dear to him.
A funeral service will be held at noon on Friday, Dec. 15, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton, the Rev. Benjamin Shambaugh officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Lawn Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held at the church from 11 a.m. until the time of the service.
Memorial donations have been suggested to Toys for Tots at toysfortots.org.
The family is grateful to the spiritual care offered by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Watertown, Wis., to the professionals who worked to sustain Mr. Miltenberger’s health, comfort, and dignity during his illness, and to Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, Wis.
