Millard Claude Mitchell was born on May 6, 1928, in Garysburg, North Carolina, the sixth son of Charlie Robert and Amie (Wyche) Mitchell. He was educated in the Northampton County public schools and at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College in Greensboro, North Carolina where he received his B.S. in Mathematics in 1951. He joined Roanoke Salem Missionary Baptist Church while still living at home.

Millard is affectionately known as "Pete". One family tale about his childhood is related to his new shoes. In those days, the parents sometimes bought clothing items without the presence of the child. Well, "Papa" went to the dry goods store in Jackson to buy shoes for Pete - the shoes were black high-top shoes made of patent leather. Papa was unaware that the shoes had "dry-rotted" when he bought them! Pete thought he was sharp, with a capital "S" when he went to school the next day. As the day progressed, more and more of the patent leather peeled off his shoes! By the end of the school day, there was nothing left - except the "cheese cloth" to which the patent leather had been attached!

Pete was the first in his family to attend college and everyone was very proud of him. He worked very hard at part-time jobs when not in class or studying. He had to forgo many social events and dating while at school because he was always working. When he came home to visit, he pronounced his name as Mil-lard; not Millard, as the locals did. Well that brought about another funny family story. His nephew, Robert, was a very small child and could not quite pronounce Mil-lard correctly - so he would yell hello by saying "Hey, Uncle Mrs. Lard."

Pete served his military time in the U.S. Army beginning in March of 1952 where he received the rank of 1st Lt. in the Korean War.

While at A&T, Pete met and fell in love with Willie Jane Taylor, a student at nearby Bennett College. They married in 1954 after both and finished their studies and Pete had finished his tour of duty. They moved to the Philadelphia area where Pete landed a fantastic job at the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pa. He was the family "first" in going to college, now he had become the "first black" in his company! He retired in 1984 and currently stays active in many urban projects, memberships on various boards and personal projects. He had the honor of being invited to his 50th class reunion at A&T in May of 2001 where he and members of his graduating class participated in the commencement exercises. Congratulations, Pete!

Pete and Willie have two children, Millard, Jr. and Phillip.