For Fathers Day coming up we wanted to highlight the founder of Mills Roofing, John Mills Sr. We want to highlight him because he was the example of what it meant to be a great father. He was able to start his own successful company and still spend quality time with his children and instill virtue and respect into their lives while being an example to them. Even in his humble beginnings when he was not able to offer his children much financially he still gave them something that money can’t purchase; a father’s love.
John Mills Sr. was the middle child of 7 (he had 6 siblings), he grew up in a poor family and had to work hard from a young age to help support his family. Eventually he decided to take his skills and work for himself in order to ensure a better future for his wife and children. He tells the story often of how he started Mills Roofing with a hatchet, a tool belt, a station wagon, and a section of a ladder with missing rungs that he found in downtown Fredericksburg, VA. Through hard work and dedication he was able to form a successful business that he passed on to his children and now to his grandchildren as well.
Throughout the laborious hours of work that it took to build a successful business he was still able to father his 5 children and provide for them even with such a small beginning. Most importantly he taught them ethics and respect! The success of his children and his grandchildren are largely credited to his sacrificial labor of love that he underwent to build a business that could be left as an inheritance to his children and grandchildren. John Mills Sr. is truly a wise father as Proverbs states “a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” Not only has he left a business as an inheritance he is leaving an inheritance of family love and commitment. He is the most giving man that I know!
Written by Michael Woodward (grandson of John mills Sr)
