H. Mayo Mills

H. Mayo Mills, age 81, died peacefully on January 2, 2023, at Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside Hospital in Jacksonville.

Born and raised in Bainbridge, Georgia, Mayo left that south Georgia small town behind to see the wider world. Combining a love to learn how things work with service to country, Mayo served in the ROTC while obtaining his industrial engineering degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology followed by three years of honorable service in the Air Force.

Every bit the “Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer” portrayed in the fight song he and his Sig Ep fraternity brothers sang after every Yellow Jacket touchdown, Mayo applied his education and talents to the financial world, helping construct sound and efficient financial plans for countless people, businesses, and organizations. Earning his MBA along the way, Mayo built a distinguished career at Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, and finally Morgan Stanley.

Mayo was also a leader in his community, including serving as president of the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville. A long-time Deerwood resident, Mayo found fellowship and renewal on the golf course and, especially in his later years, as a member of Redeemer Episcopal Church, 7500 Southside Boulevard, where funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on January 21, 2023.

Mayo has joined his parents Frank and Naomi (née Cato) Mills in heaven and is survived by his brother Donald Mills (Laura); his children John S. Mills (Natalie), Mary Chase Bolden (Greg), and Clayborne D. Mills; and six grandchildren (Dryden, Andy, Madeline, Aidan, Jack, and Reagan).

Mayo’s warm kindness, quirky and mischievous sense of humor, and boundless analytical curiosity will be missed by all who knew him.