Secret Service Agent Keith Mills, 50, of Kennebunkport, Maine, passed away April 25, 2021 after suffering a heart attack while on duty.

Mills, a Biddeford, Maine native, graduated from Biddeford High School in 1989 and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Maine in 1992. He began his career in law enforcement at the age of 18, when he served as a corrections officer with the York County Sheriff’s Office. He served as a reserve officer with the Ogunquit Police Department, and then he worked 10 years for the Kennebunkport Police Department.

Agent Mills joined the Secret Service in 2002. During his career, he protected the late President George H.W. Bush and former President George W. Bush.

His brother Todd reflected, “I called him my little big brother. He really was like a voice of reason: level-headed, never got upset, remained calm. He had a way of getting you to take a deep breath … I really looked up to him.”

Mills shined as a father, according to Ashley Padget, the mother of their two children, Evan and Avery.