‘Pink lady of racing’ receives honor
Donna Mae Mills was known as the “Pink Lady of Racing.”
Canonsburg native Donna Mae Mims was inducted Friday into the Corvette Hall of Fame in Bowling Green, Ky.
Donna Mae Mims was the founder of Three Rivers Corvette Club.
Donna Mae Mims lived and died an ambassador of Chevrolet’s iconic muscle car. The Canonsburg native died in October 2009 at age 82 and was displayed in her 1979 pink Corvette at her funeral. The race car driver was inducted Friday into the Corvette Hall of Fame in Bowling Green, Ky., and a caravan of Corvette drivers from the Pittsburgh region raced down to honor her legacy.
“Donna was instrumental in getting Corvettes into the racing scene,” said McMurray Sun Chevrolet owner Marty Cumba. The dealership celebrated her induction in July by showing her signature pink Corvette.
“The pink lady of racing was pretty well known in the South Hills because everything she owned was pink, at one point even her dog,” said Bob Jacobsen, 65, of Cecil, who is president of Three Rivers Corvette Club based in South Park. “She started this club in 1980.”
Jacobsen led an eight-car caravan on a 10-hour drive to see Mims inducted into the hall of fame.
“She never had any professional training. She just did it and did it well. She loved the Corvette because it was a two-seater, supposedly because she didn’t have to take her mother-in-law anywhere with her husband,” Jacobsen said.
Mims already reached fame of sorts after racing in the secret coast-to-coast race, Cannonball Run, which was made into a movie in 1981. The actual race – The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash – was held in 1979 from New York to Los Angeles.
Despite her inspiration for Hollywood fame, Mims was a religious person who taught Sunday school and was compassionate toward everyone in her life, Jacobsen said. Yet, perhaps the most amazing thing is after retiring in 1974 from racing, she stayed active in clubs and Corvette events right up until the end of her life.
“Two weeks before she passed away, she applied for a job with our organization,” Cumba said, “She was looking to stay active, and we were getting ready to call her to bring her in.”