Judge Frank C. Mills III, 74 of Canton, passed away Friday, February 17, 2023, at his residence. Visitation will be Sunday, February 19th from 2-5 pm at Darby Funeral Home. The service will be Monday, February 20th at 11am at Canton First United Methodist Church with Rev. Linda B. Pineo officiating. Interment will follow at Liberty Hill Cemetery. He is survived by:
Wife – Mandy Mills of Canton
Son – Frank C. "Tater" (Katie) Mills of Nashville, TN.
Brother – John (Peggy) Mills of Woodstock
Sister – Marianne (Louis) Alfaro of Huntersville, NC.
Grandchildren – Molly Mills and Madeline Mills
Heartfelt gratitude to devoted caregiver Mirna Corbitt

Frank Coxe Mills, III, Canton, Georgia, Chief Judge Superior Court, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit (Cherokee) formerly included Forsyth, Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens Counties.

Born July 7, 1948, in DeKalb County, Georgia; resided in Acworth. Cartersville and Savannah, Georgia where he attended public schools until 1965. Was graduated from Tennessee Military Institute. Graduated from Emory University, BA, 1970 and University of Georgia School of Law, JD, 1973. Leadership Georgia 1982, Jaycees Outstanding Young Man of America-Cherokee County, 1982; Honorably discharged from U. S. Army (Res.) with rank of Captain.

Served as Chief Assistant District Attorney and District Attorney from February 1974 to February 1981. He received the Distinguished District Attorney Award from the Prosecuting Attorney's Council in 1979·. ·
He was appointed Judge of Superior Courts, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, on February 9, 1981, has been elected to that position eight times. He has been trained at the National Judicial College and the American Academy of Judicial Education.
He has been an instructor at many continuing education seminars for District Attorneys, the Police Academy and Superior Court Judges in such subjects as Conspiracy, Motor Vehicle Theft, Habitual Traffic Violator, Ethics, Death Penalty Trials, and Handicapped Access to the Courts, locally and nationally.

He was elected and has served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and as District Administrative Judge and member of Judicial Council 1988- 1990. He chaired the Pattern Jury Instruction Committee for over 17 years. Twice served, by invitation, on the Supreme Court of Georgia. Author of the annual survey of developments in criminal law in Georgia published by Mercer University Law School, and did so in 1991, 1993 and 1994. Presiding Judge, Ninth Judicial Administrative District.
Veteran of hundreds of civil and criminal jury trials as an attorney and judge; he has been involved in well over 300 felony jury trials and over 50 murder cases.

Judge Mills was active in community affairs, most notably the Boy Scouts of America in many capacities including Assistant Scoutmaster, and Aquatics Instructor. He has served on staff for 4 National and 1 World Jamboree. He served as District Chairman and was the recipient of the District Award of Merit in 1992 and the Silver Beaver Award in 1996, the highest award on nomination of a Boy Scout Council for distinguished service to youth. He was presented the Whitney M. Young Award in 2005 for distinguished service to rural or low-income urban youth. He is a volunteer, Red Cross Lifeguard, CPR, First Aid and Wilderness First Aid Instructor and also received the Justice Robert Benham Public Service Award from the State Bar of Georgia.

On June 28, 1980, Mills married Amanda L. Crouthers (graduated University of Georgia, 1973, Phi Beta Kappa) and they are the parents of one son, Eagle Scout, and West Point graduate Frank Crouthers Mills, veteran of two deployments to Iraq. They enjoy babysitting their two grandchildren, Molly and Madeline.

In January, 2023, at the annual Judges Conference in Athens, he was awarded the Emory Findley Award.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to Scouts Canton BSA Inc. a 501 (3) (C) Corporation in support of Troop 241 BSA.
Live Stream of service can be viewed at cantonumc.online.church
The caring staff of Darby Funeral Home is honored to serve the Mills family.