Charles E F Millard Sr

When Mr. Millard joined Coca-Cola Bottling in 1967, he was 35 and one of the first outsiders to lead what had been a system made up of mostly small, family-run bottling companies. Mr. Millard soon introduced a team of senior managers to Coca-Cola Bottling, then Coke's largest bottler, and transformed it into a business that recorded rapid sales growth and that acquired other companies. On his watch, sales at the company grew to more than $500 million a year from $60 million. Born in 1932, in Paterson, N.J., Mr. Millard was the youngest of six children. His father was the vice president of a coal company and executor and trustee of the Jay Gould estate. His mother was a homemaker. Mr. Millard maintained an allegiance to his alma mater, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., where he served as chairman of the board of trustees and was a board member for nearly three decades. He sent each of his eight children there. After graduating from Holy Cross in 1954, Mr. Millard spent 10 years in the advertising industry. He was one of the youngest vice presidents in the history of Benton & Bowles. During his career he worked on several large consumer products accounts including Ballantine, General Foods and Procter & Gamble. In addition to his son, Charles, of Rye Brook, N.Y., he is survived by his wife, Marylou; and his other children, Marylou Ferrara of Hopewell Township, N.J.; Christopher Millard of Atlanta; Maureen Millard of New York; Margaret McGrath of Fairfield, Conn.; Suzanne Stanners of Old Saybrook, Conn.; Kathleen Rehm of Darien, Conn.; and Gregory Millard of Southport, Conn. He has 24 grandchildren.