William Harold Mills Sr.

MILLS, William Harold Sr., 98, died at his home in St. Petersburg, Sunday, June 7, 2009. He was one of the leading builders in the United States. In 1946, Mr. Mills founded Mills & Jones Construction Co. Under Mr. Mills' direction, Mills & Jones (and later its wholly-owned subsidiary, Federal Construction Co.) built many of Florida' s landmark structures including, Headquarters for Florida Power Corp. in St. Petersburg, Eckerd Drug Co. in Clearwater, Fla., The St. Petersburg Times and Poynter Institute for Media Studies buildings in downtown St. Petersburg, The Tampa Tribune headquarters in downtown Tampa, as well as the headquarters for Tampa Electric Co. in Tampa. Mills & Jones also built the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and the original Busch Gardens in Tampa. The company was responsible for the construction of the first buildings at the now Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. Under his leadership, Mills & Jones became one of the largest construction firms in Florida and one of the 100 largest in the United States according to Engineering News Record. Mr. Mills' son, William H. Mills Jr., joined the company in 1964. Mills & Jones then became Federal Construction Company which was sold in 1990 to the British firm Trafalgar House. Mr. Mills' community contributions are endless including the chairman of the Port Authority of St. Petersburg, president of the Greater St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Council of 100, Who' s Who in America, the Polywogs, and the boards of the Salvation Army, All Children' s Hospital and the Red Cross Disaster Committee. For 25 years he served on the board of the First National Bank in St. Petersburg and was a director of Florida Federal Savings and Loan Association and of General Telephone Co. Mr. Mills served on the board of directors of the St. Louis National Baseball Co. (the St. Louis Cardinals). He was a longtime member and former vestryman of Saint Peter' s Cathedral. William Harold Mills was born in Birmingham, Ala. February 19, 1911, the son of Charles W. and Mary Ann Parker Mills. Then his mother remarried, the family moved to Tampa where Mr. Mills became a member of the first graduating class at Plant High School. He also attended Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry, Va., the University of Florida and in 1930, entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from which he graduated in June 1934 with a degree in engineering. Mr. Mills is survived by his beloved wife of 46 years, Helen Donovan Mills; and his children, William H. Mills Jr. (Gigi) of St. Petersburg, Fla., Susan Mills of Berkeley, Calif., Caroline Bridget Mills of Versailles, Ky. and Mary Mills Andersen of Camiran, France; his sister-in-law, Dorothy Walsh (his wife' s identical twin sister) of Pennsylvania; and his stepdaughters, Marilyn Guilford (Arthur) Brandon and Janice Cooper of St. Petersburg; 10 grand- children; 13 great- grandchildren; two nephews; and a niece. A funeral was conducted June 11, at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, 1200 Snell Isle Blvd. NE, St. Petersburg. Contributions in Mr. Mills Memory may be made to West Central Florida Council Boy Scouts of America, 11046 Johnson Boulevard, Seminole, FL 33772-1715, or Hospice of the Florida Suncoast. On-line Guestbook at www. AndersonMcQueen.com.