JACKSONVILLE, FLA.—Harry Mills spent more than four decades in the carpet industry, serving as an executive for several of the leading manufacturers. He held key positions in the commercial carpet business for major mills. He died here in retirement Feb. 1 at the age of 86.
Mills was born Jan. 9, 1924, in New York City, and as a child lived in Huntington, N.Y. He served in the Army Signal Corps in Europe during World War II. He later received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
During his more than 40 years in the carpet industry, he served in the contract division of Shaw Industries, was the vice president of marketing for Stratton Industries, vice president of marketing for WestPoint Pepperell Contract Carpet and vice president of marketing for Lotus Carpets, a division of Columbus Mills. He retired in 1997 and relocated to Jacksonville.
Survivors include his wife, Helen; daughter, Maureen Strickland, and her husband, Bill; son, Thomas, and his wife, Betty Anne; stepchildren, Carey Snider and Jeff (Kendall) Snider, and five grandchildren. His first wife, Virginia, predeceased him in 1986.