William Scott Mills, 93, Father of Ex-Senator, Dies After Hit by Car

William Scott Mills, the 93-year-old father of former Democratic state Sen. James R. Mills, was fatally injured Wednesday night after he was hit by a car while crossing an unmarked crosswalk.

Mills was walking in the 1300 block of West Lewis Street near Lark Street in Hillcrest at 8:30 p.m. when he was hit by an eastbound car driven by David Dwayne Korb, 18, of San Diego, San Diego Police Officer David Russell said. Korb was not charged, but the accident is under investigation.

Mills was taken to University Hospital with fractured ribs, a broken leg and undetermined internal injuries. He died at 12:40 a.m. Thursday of multiple traumatic injuries, Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie said.

Mills was a retired painting contractor who had worked on projects in the Muirlands area of La Jolla and the Del Mar Racetrack, Betty Moore, one of his daughters, said.

He had been retired since the early 1960s, but had remained active in many organizations, she said.

A native of Sheffield, England, Mills was a World War I veteran who fought for the Crown before settling in America and marrying Beatrice Wrighton.

His visits to exotic places while circumnavigating the globe on sailing vessels before the war fueled tales of wanderlust and travel that instilled a love of trains in his son--the former senator called “Mr. Fixed Rail Transit.”

The younger Mills, known for his transportation legislation, fought here to get approval of his 1975 proposal for the San Diego Trolley line.

Mills’ survivors include the former state senator; another daughter, Jean Mills Hash of Coronado Cays; and another son, David William Mills of Lancaster, Calif.