David Milstead

David Milstead is a local businessman, lay preacher, and community servant. Known by some as “The Mayor of Seth Ward,” he founded and served as president of the Seth Ward Water Supply Corporation to improve the drinking water supplied to that unincorporated community adjoining Plainview on the northeast side.

David Milstead was born in 1955 in Plainview and grew up in Seth Ward. As a teenager he worked with his father, Eldon Milstead, at Daffern Steel and Supply. He graduated from Plainview High in 1973 and married Annette Green in 1974. The couple eventually had three daughters and three grandchildren.

In 1976 he left his undergraduate studies at Texas Tech and joined his father in opening Milstead Hardware and Welding Supply, a business that David eventually operated for 32 years. His father taught him to give back more than he took in life — to be a servant, not to be served. In 1999 he was honored by the Better Business Bureau with The Market Place Ethics Award of the South Plains.

An active churchman and deacon, first at Seth Ward Baptist Church and later at the First Baptist Church, David Milstead served on the state cabinet of Gideon International, a worldwide Bible distribution organization. As a lay preacher, he performed a number of funerals for Seth Ward residents. He is a member of the Living Water Emmaus Community.

David Milstead was instrumental in the construction of the current home of Plainview Christian Academy and served on its Facility and Finance Committee. He was chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Committee and sat on the advisory board for the Southwest Hardware and Implement Dealers Association.