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'''Ada Belle Parks Mills''' (March 4, 1912 &ndash; September 30, 2001)<ref name=ssdi>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?sn=Mills&fn=Ada&start=40|title=Social Security Death Index|publisher=ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=September 8, 2010; under pay wall}}</ref> was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] political activist in her native [[Arkansas]].  In 1980, she was the only delegate initially committed to the candidacy for president of former [[Governor]] [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], of [[Texas]]. Connally spent some $11 million in his 13-month primary campaign, which ended in withdrawal following his loss to [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of [[California]] in the [[South Carolina]] [[primary]]. Mrs. Mills received brief national media attention as the "$11 million delegate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921859,00.html|title=Adieu, Big John|publisher=''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' [[magazine]], March 24, 1980|date=March 24, 1980|accessdate=September 8, 2010}}</ref>​

'''Ada Belle Parks Mills''' (March 4, 1912 &ndash; September 30, 2001)<ref name=ssdi>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?sn=Mills&fn=Ada&start=40|title=Social Security Death Index|publisher=ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=September 8, 2010; under pay wall}}</ref> was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] political activist in her native [[Arkansas]].  In 1980, she was the only delegate initially committed to the candidacy for president of former [[Governor]] [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], of [[Texas]]. Connally spent some $11 million in his 13-month primary campaign, which ended in withdrawal following his loss to [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of [[California]] in the [[South Carolina]] [[primary]]. Mrs. Mills received brief national media attention as the "$11 million delegate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921859,00.html|title=Adieu, Big John|publisher=''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' [[magazine]], March 24, 1980|date=March 24, 1980|accessdate=September 8, 2010}}</ref>​

 

==Civic and business activities==​

==Civic and business activities==

Mills was born in Prairie Grove in Washington County in the northwestern part of the state. Her parents were Clifford Parks and Belle Simmons. Mills actively promoted her alma mater, the [[Presbyterian]]-affiliated University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, from which she graduated 1931. In 1933, Mills and her husband were the first people to be married at the newly established chapel on the University of the Ozarks campus. She held the position of alumni organization president for the university's alumni association Mills also served as a member of the board of trustees, and in 1970 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201125846/http://thegraphic.org/AA%20Obit%20Archive/01obit/10-03-01.htmltml |title=Ada Mills |publisher=''The Johnson County (Arkansas) Graphic''|date=October 2001 |accessdate=September 8, 2010 }}</ref> ​

Mills was born in Prairie Grove, Arkansas which is located in the northwestern part of the state in Washington County. Her parents were Clifford Parks and Belle Simmons. Mills actively promoted her alma mater, the [[Presbyterian]]-affiliated University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, from which she graduated 1931. In 1933, Mills and her husband were the first people to be married at the newly established chapel on the University of the Ozarks campus. She held the position of alumni organization president for the university's alumni association Mills also served as a member of the board of trustees, and in 1970 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201125846/http://thegraphic.org/AA%20Obit%20Archive/01obit/10-03-01.htmltml |title=Ada Mills |publisher=''The Johnson County (Arkansas) Graphic''|date=October 2001 |accessdate=September 8, 2010 }}</ref> ​

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Joe and Ada Mills founded and operated Ozark Hardwood Manufacturing Company, Mills Oil Company, Ozark Box and Crating Corporation, and Ozark Hardwood Lumber Company. They also operated F&M Box and Crating Corporation in Caney in Montgomery County in southeastern [[Kansas]], and the Texas Container Corporation in Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1973, Mrs. Mills received the [[Small Business Administration]] "Businessperson of the Year" award. She served on numerous local, state, and national business commissions.<ref name=obit/>​

Joe and Ada Mills founded and operated Ozark Hardwood Manufacturing Company, Mills Oil Company, Ozark Box and Crating Corporation, and Ozark Hardwood Lumber Company. They also operated F&M Box and Crating Corporation in Caney in Montgomery County in southeastern [[Kansas]], and the Texas Container Corporation in Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1973, Mrs. Mills received the [[Small Business Administration]] "Businessperson of the Year" award. She served on numerous local, state, and national business commissions.<ref name=obit/>​

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For more than four decades, she spearheaded the campaign to build a replacement bridge on Arkansas Highway 109 over the Arkansas River between Clarksville and the community of Morrison Bluff  in Logan County. The since-named Ada Mills Bridge is the longest such span in the state of Arkansas.<ref name=obit/>​

For more than four decades, she spearheaded the campaign to build a replacement bridge on Arkansas Highway 109 over the Arkansas River between Clarksville and the community of Morrison Bluff  in Logan County. The since-named Ada Mills Bridge is the longest such span in the state of Arkansas.<ref name=obit/>​

 

==Political matters==​

==Political activities== ​

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In 1972, Mills was a delegate to the 1972 [[Republican National Convention]] in Miami Beach,  [[Florida]], in which she joined the unanimous Arkansas members in ratifying the re-nomination of the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro T. Agnew|Agnew]] ticket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mills.html#24600V0EV|title=Ada Mills|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=September 8, 2010}}</ref> ​

In 1972, Mills was a delegate to the 1972 [[Republican National Convention]] in Miami Beach,  [[Florida]], in which she joined the unanimous Arkansas members in ratifying the re-nomination of the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro T. Agnew|Agnew]] ticket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mills.html#24600V0EV|title=Ada Mills|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=September 8, 2010}}</ref> ​

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Eight years later, she committed initially to Nixon's former [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|treasury secretary]], John Connally, before finally joining her Arkansas delegation to support the Reagan-[[George Herbert Walker Bush|Bush]] ticket, which prevailed in Arkansas. The original Arkansas count had been seven for Reagan, four for [[U.S. Senator]] [[Howard Baker]], of [[Tennessee]], two for Bush, five uncommitted, and Mills' backing of Connally. Along with Mills, the Arkansas delegation at the 1980 Republican National Convention, which met in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], included [[U.S. Representative]]s [[John Paul Hammerschmidt]] and Edwin Ruthvin Bethune, Jr., party chairman [[Lynn Lowe]], national committeeman [[Harlan "Bo" Holleman]], and party legal counsel James Burnett.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report,'' February 23, 1980, p. 572; July 12, 1980, p. 1928.</ref><ref>''Arkansas Outlook'' (Republican Party newsletter), March 1979.</ref>​

Eight years later in 1980, she committed initially to Nixon's former [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|treasury secretary]], John Connally, before finally joining her Arkansas delegation to support the Reagan-[[George Herbert Walker Bush|Bush]] ticket, which prevailed in Arkansas. The original Arkansas count had been seven for Reagan, four for [[U.S. Senator]] [[Howard Baker]], of [[Tennessee]], two for Bush, five uncommitted, and Mills' backing of Connally. Along with Mills, the Arkansas delegation at the 1980 Republican National Convention, which met in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], included [[U.S. Representative]]s [[John Paul Hammerschmidt]] and Edwin Ruthvin Bethune, Jr., party chairman [[Lynn Lowe]], national committeeman [[Harlan "Bo" Holleman]], and party legal counsel James Burnett.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report,'' February 23, 1980, p. 572; July 12, 1980, p. 1928.</ref><ref>''Arkansas Outlook'' (Republican Party newsletter), March 1979.</ref>​

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In 2000, she was awarded the Republican Party's Eagle Award for fifty years of work in the establishment of a two-party system in historically [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state.<ref name=obit/>​

In 2000, she was awarded the Republican Party's Eagle Award for fifty years of work in the establishment of a two-party system in historically [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state.<ref name=obit/>​