Durrell V. Mills

Published 10:52 pm Friday, October 24, 2014

SUFFOLK — Durrell V. Mills, 80, passed away Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. He was born in Pender County, N.C., to the late Elsie Carter and Phillip Ezra Mills. He was predeceased by his daughter, Pamela Mills Coppola, and brother, Ronnie Mills.

Mills

Durrell graduated from East Carolina University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting, and a minor in economics. He worked for Waller and Woodhouse, and Frank Edward Sheffer & Co. Certified Public Accountants before partnering and forming Mills & Cavender CPA. He was a shareholder in Eggleston Smith, PC, in Suffolk until 2003 and was a manager for Witt Mares Eggleston Smith, PLC.

Professionally, he was a member of the Tidewater Chapter, Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, in 1981 recipient of the Hilton Trophy, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Durrell was active in many civic organizations — Suffolk Rotary Club, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Eastover-Wilroy Ruritan Club, Suffolk Education Foundation, United Way of South Hampton Roads, Ducks Unlimited, Jolly Boys and Wilroy Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and was chairman of the Finance Committee. He was proclaimed First Citizen of Suffolk by Mayor Dana E. Dickens in April 1999.

He is survived by his wife, Geraldine D. Mills, daughter, Amy Mills Espinosa and husband, Emil; son Durrell Scott Mills and wife, Angie; son-in-law James A. Coppola; grandchildren Erin, Matthew, Adam, Kaitlin, Michael, Austin and Dixon; great-grandchildren, Will, Jackson and Carter; brothers and sisters, Harris, Donnie, Amos, Phil, Patricia, Phyllis and Linda and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014, at 1 p.m. in Wilroy Baptist Church, 306 Williams Road, Suffolk by the Rev. Timothy W. Rawls and the Rev. Michael D. Halley with burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suffolk. The family will receive friends on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory, 509 W. Washington St., Suffolk, VA 23434.

Memorial donations may be made to Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel, Building Fund, P.O. Box 3071, Topsail Beach, NC 28445, or to Samaritans Purse, P.O. Box 3000 Boone, NC 28607. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.