P.J. was born on January 10, 1934, in Baton Rouge, the only child of Percy J. Mills, Sr. and Gladys Mills. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Genevieve Grace Mills (Jennie), and by his six children – Doug (Lisa), Crenan (Lynn), Chris (Leslie), Gigi Baay (John), Holly Mills, and Drew (Nikki). PJ was also blessed with 11 grandchildren – Caroline Mills Marshall, PJ Mills, Robby Mills, Grace Mills, Courtney Mills Spiegl, Catherine Mills, Chris Mills, Will Baay, Madeline Baay Dubas, Stephen Baay and Liam Mills. P.J.’s five great-grandchildren are Sebastian Baay, Sarah Dubas, Lucille Dubas, Charlie Marshall and Peter Marshall.
P.J. graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 1951. He received his undergraduate degree from LSU in Business Administration and then his Master’s Degree in Government and Public Administration. While at LSU, P.J. was awarded the first J. Kimbrough Owen Fellowship for graduate study, and worked at the Public Affairs Research Council. His continuing education included a degree from Southern Methodist University Graduate School of Banking.
In 1959, P.J. and Jennie moved to Shreveport, where P.J. accepted a position as manager of the Governmental Affairs Department of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. He then moved into banking, accepting a position as Vice-President of Pioneer Bank & Trust Company in Shreveport. During his ten years at the bank, P.J. was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish, and was a member of newly minted representatives dubbed “The Young Turks”.
In 1971, Governor Edwin Edwards appointed P.J. director of the newly created Louisiana Superport Authority, an agency created to permit, build and operate the first offshore deep water supertanker terminal in the United States. This position involved moving the family of now five children to New Orleans. P.J. remained with the agency until construction began on the facility in 1975.
P.J. left public life in 1976, and re-entered the world of private business. He joined Leon Irwin & Company Insurance Agency, and settled into life as a New Orleans businessman. In 1989, newly elected governor Buddy Roemer asked P.J. to return to public service and join his administration as the Governor’s Chief of Staff. P.J. accepted, and served Governor Roemer and the state for four years.
After leaving the Governor’s office, P.J. was recruited to become President and CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana. P.J spent the remainder of his working life with Blue Cross, and led the company to a firm financial position and extraordinary growth. P.J. retired from Blue Cross in 2000.
During P.J.’s life, his commitment to service was at the forefront of everything he did. The list of boards and committees on which he served is lengthy, and it entailed everything from his children’s schools (Jesuit High School and Academy of the Sacred Heart) to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the Bureau of Governmental Research. For his years of service, P.J. received many awards and recognitions, none more meaningful to him than the Golden Bear Award as the Catholic High Alumnus of the Year.
LSU always held a special place in P.J.’s heart. He grew up just off campus in Baton Rouge as his father was a Botany Professor at the university. He was a member and president of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, met Jennie at LSU, all six of his children attended school at LSU., and he had the honor of serving on the Board of Directors of the LSU Foundation and as Chairman of the LSU National Alumni Fund. As in the line from the Alma Mater, P.J. was Forever LSU.
For the past three years, P.J. has been cared for by the Chateau de Notre Dame “Earth Angels” – a group of wonderful and caring aides and nurses. Their love and care in the last years of P.J.’s life are very much appreciated by the entire family.
Funeral arrangements will be delayed by the current COVID restrictions. A Mass celebrating P.J.’s life will be scheduled at a future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Catholic High School – Office of Advancement P.O. Box 65004 Baton Rouge, LA 70896 or the charity of your choice.
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