Noel Lang Mills

Dr. Noel Lang Mills, a pioneering cardiovascular surgeon, devoted educator, inventor, and passionate outdoorsman, passed away peacefully on March 9, 2026, at his home in Carriere, Mississippi. He was 89 years old.

Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on October 9, 1936, he grew up in Jackson with his parents, Noel Lang Mills Sr. and Hazel, and his sister Frances. After completing his undergraduate studies in three years at Millsaps College, he graduated from Tulane Medical School in 1961. His early experimental work at Tulane on lung transplantation was presented at the American Association of Thoracic Surgery meeting in Washington, DC. He interned at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, where he met his future wife, Joy, and completed his general surgery residency there. From 1967 to 1969, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force at the 25th Casualty Staging Facility in Tachikawa, Japan, flying on air evacuations and treating wounded soldiers from Vietnam.

In 1969, Dr. Mills began his cardiovascular surgery residency at NYU Medical Center and achieved board certifications in general, cardiothoracic, and vascular surgery by 1971. He joined Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, where he led the Cardiovascular Surgery section from 1972 to 1987 and was named Teacher of the Year. Over his career, he authored more than 160 publications and 18 book chapters, co-authored the first book on coronary artery surgery, and co-invented with Dr. Terry King the first human-use ASD closure device delivered through a leg vein—an innovation featured in TIME Magazine whose modern version is now used in thousands of patients worldwide each year. He performed over 10,000 heart operations, designed ten named surgical instruments, pioneered techniques for plaque extraction from inoperable arteries, and helped establish cardiac programs in Chile and the Onassis Heart Hospital in Athens. An active member of more than two dozen medical societies, he lectured internationally and received the Smith, Kline & French Foreign Fellowship for study in Africa.

After facing his own battles with coronary artery disease and prostate cancer, Dr. Mills retired from surgery and returned to Tulane Medical School as Professor of Surgery, where he taught on congenital heart disease and clinical challenges. In retirement, he earned a U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s license, guided redfish fishing trips in the Louisiana marshes, handcrafted 13 violins, two violas, and a cello, and became a self-taught expert and collector of Native American lithic artifacts. He tended his farm in Pearl River County, Mississippi, cared devotedly for his Westies, and worked to raise awareness about declining Monarch butterfly populations from his summer home on Sand Lake in northern Minnesota.

Dr. Mills is survived by his beloved wife of 64 years, Joy, whom he married in 1963; his children, Chris, Holly, and Nick (Bess); his sister, Frances Mills Yerger; and six grandchildren, Lily, George, Poppy, Andrew, Marshall, and Emma. He lived a life defined by service, innovation, and deep passion, leaving a lasting legacy in medicine, music, conservation, and the human spirit.