Macey L. "Corky" McMillin Jr. (January 14, 1929 – September 22, 2005) was an American

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

desert racer,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and land developer.

Biography

When he was 14, McMillin and his family moved from a small

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

town to

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in nearby National City. He started a small construction company in

Bonita, California Bonita (Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern San Diego County, California, nestled between the cities of Chula Vista, California, Chula Vista, National City, California, National City, and San ...

in 1960, with his wife, Vonnie, who handled accounting duties. While McMillin was busy building houses, his passion was taking his family to the

Imperial Sand Dunes Imperial is that which relates to an empire, Emperor, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania ...

on the weekends. As sons Mark and Scott got older, McMillin decided to try his hand at off-road racing. McMillin's first venture into a competitive event came at the 1976

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

with his son, Mark. Although the father-son team did not finish that first race, McMillin kept at it, and his first win came in the 1979 Baja 1000. He went on to win many more races, including the

San Felipe 250 The SCORE International, SCORE San Felipe 250 is a 250-mile Mexican Offroad racing, off-road motorsport race that takes place near San Felipe, Baja California, San Felipe on the Baja California Peninsula. It was first held in 1982 and is sanctioned ...

Baja 500 The Baja 500 is a Mexican off-road motorsport race on the Baja California Peninsula that is sanctioned by SCORE International. The course has remained relatively the same over the years with the majority of events being loop races starting and fi ...

, Parker 400, and Fireworks 250, most of them multiple times. Over the years, McMillin won three

SCORE SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

Points Championships and on two occasions, won overall titles at both the San Felipe 250 and the Baja 500. As the McMillin Companies continued to prosper, McMillin expanded into different markets, including

Liberty Station Liberty Station is a mixed-use development in San Diego, California, on the site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego. It is located in the Point Loma community of San Diego. It has a waterfront location, on a boat channel off San Diego Ba ...

, a conversion project on the site of the former San Diego Naval Training Center. He eventually became one of the largest private developers in the country. The Corky McMillin Companies donated $1.5 million to enhance the real estate program at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

's College of Business Administration. Through Partners in Education, McMillin contributed to anti-drug programs in the Poway Unified School District. McMillin died at the age of 76 less than two weeks after he had a heart attack while racing in his final desert race, the SCORE

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Primm 300. He has eight grandchildren. In 2000, because of his contributions to the community, an elementary school in Chula Vista was named after him. Vonnie McMillin died on August 30, 2016, after an extended battle with Parkinson's disease. While his sons continue to run the family business — The Corky McMillin Companies — his daughter, Laurie Ann, an interior designer who is also on the board of directors of the family's corporation, decorates the company's model homes.

Career awards

McMillin is a 2006 inductee in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was awarded the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award in 1985.

References

External links

''North County Times'' obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillin, Corky 1929 births 2005 deaths American businesspeople in real estate American philanthropists Off-road racing drivers Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California Racing drivers from San Diego