Obituary of Richard H. Miller

Richard Hansen “Dick” Miller of Cheshire, died on Wednesday, April 29th at the home of his stepson, Gregory Smith, in South Windsor, Connecticut. He was husband to Barbara Welles (Smith) Miller. Born January 2, 1913 in Waterbury, he was the son of the late Clyde and Fritsa (Hansen) Miller and had been a resident of Cheshire since 1948. He spent elementary and early high school years in Torrington, finishing High School and college in Canada, notably playing football for his University of Toronto college varsity and as a member of the 1933 Dominion Champion Toronto Argonauts. He was a long time member of the First Congregational Church in Cheshire, serving it in many capacities: Church School Teacher, Superintendent, Moderator, Deacon, Trustee, Member of the Executive Board, several terms as Historian and for 14 years, scribe to the Men’s Breakfast Fellowship. Dick Miller was a very active Rotarian and maintained a perfect once-a-week attendance record for more than 50 years. Staunch member and past president of the Cheshire club, he also served Rotary International as Governor of the Southern Connecticut District (7980) which currently includes more than 60 Rotary clubs. He attended many International Conventions (Europe, Australia and North America) and was nine times designated a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary’s highest award. He was a Benefactor of the Rotary Foundation. For the Town of Cheshire, he served three elected terms as Police Commissioner, and four consecutive years as Vice Chairman of the Board of Education. For ten years, beginning in 1984, he was an appointed member of the Town Beautification Committee for whom he coordinated the Cheshire Town Memorial Plaza from design all the way through its 1990 dedication. For eight years he was a member and chairman of the Senior Center Board of Directors and Cheshire Seniors Membership Association. He was also very active in the Seniors Writing Group for 17 years. Over the years he had been an active participant volunteer in many local groups. Some twenty-five years ago, he was one of the organizers of the Cheshire Food Drive and was still secretary to the Board as late as 1993. In 1982, he was part of the organizing Board of Cheshire Hospice and for several years beyond its merging with Wallingford and Meriden in 1989. He resigned from the Cheshire AARP Chapter #18563 in 1994 where he had served as an officer for several terms. For ten years he was a member of the Board of Cheshire Occupational & Career Opportunities, Inc., a private non-profit organization, serving the needs of handicapped adults. For this organization he served five years as Secretary. For some ten years he was an active member of the Board of Directors to the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, Inc., Waterbury, administering distribution of State and Federal funds for benefit of the elderly in 49 western Connecticut towns. He was a long time member of the Society for Industrial Archeology, American Society of Civil Engineers as well as the Order of the Iron Ring (in Canada) and the American Legion. He was also a member of the Cheshire Land Trust, Friends of the Library, Cheshire Historical Society and Sleeping Giant Park Association. A Civil Engineering graduate from the University of Toronto, his career, largely in metals, was spent with The American Brass Company and Anaconda Copper in Toronto, Waterbury and New York City, with a five year stint with Revere Corporation, Wallingford, completing his career with Platt Brothers & Company, Waterbury. He retired from Platt in 1981 as Vice President-Sales, after 25 years of what he often characterized as a “picnic” with a great organization. After retirement he coordinated the writing of a unique history, Platt Brother and Company – Small Business in American Manufacturing – authored by Matthew W. Roth. During W.W.II he was a February 1941 draftee into the US Army from Yonkers, NY and attained Sergeant Platoon Commander status with the 4th Motorized Combat Engineers, Camp Gordon, GA before being sent to Officer Candidate School. As an officer he served in the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers for four and a half years, mainly concerned with the training of Special Engineer service and combat units at the Army Engineer Training Center, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. He was honorably discharged in April 1946 with the rank of Major CE. In 1991, Mr. Miller closed out his lifetime hobby, the collection of pictures and stories of famous bridges, when his pictures (several thousand slides and post cards) and 155 reference files were accepted by the Smithsonian Institute. Some 65 of his books on bridges were donated to the Cheshire Public Library – most of which were eventually transferred to the technical archive files of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. In March, 2003, the regular Rotary Thursday night dinner meeting was held as a Miller testimonial. Some 250 Rotarians, friends, family members and town notables assembled as arranged by a special Rotary Committee to honor his fifty years as a Rotarian and 90 years of life. On his hundredth birthday, Cheshire town officials declared his birthday, January 2nd as “Dick Miller Day” in Cheshire. In February of this year, Mr. Miller was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the local Chamber of Commerce. He is survived by his wife Barbara Welles Miller, Cheshire; one child, writer Betsy Ann, Gilboa, NY, mothered by Phyllis Wilkins Miller; a daughter-in-law Sheila Miller, Cheshire; a stepdaughter Kimberly Smith Gregoire, Plantsville; a stepson Gregory Ives Smith, So. Windsor; brother Robert Pierpont Miller, Savannah, GA; brother Ronald Franklin Miller, Cupertino, CA; and a grandson, five step-grandsons and one step granddaughter and one step great granddaughter. He was predeceased (Mar 1995) by his brother Willard Clyde Miller, Toronto, Canada, and by his son, Dale Charles (March 2007), Cheshire. There will be no calling hours. A Memorial Service will be held at the First Congregational Church, 111 Church Drive, Cheshire on Saturday, May 9th at 2 pm. An informal reception will immediately follow. Private interment will be at Cheshire Street Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the following: Abilities Without Borders, 615 W. Johnson Avenue, Cheshire – 06410 American Legion, 377 Patton Drive, Cheshire - 06410 Capuchin Mission Fund for Zambia, c/o Capuchin Franciscan Friars, P.O. Box 839, Union City, NJ 07087 Cheshire Food Drive, P.O. Box 926, Cheshire – 06410 Cheshire Historical Society, P.O. Box 281, Cheshire – 06410 Cheshire Land Trust, P.O. Box 781, Cheshire - 06410 Cheshire Rotary Club Foundation, P.O. Box 20, Cheshire – 06410 Cheshire Senior Center Membership Assoc., 240 Maple Ave., Cheshire – 06410 Deacons’ Fund, First Congregational Church, 111 Church Drive, Cheshire - 06410 Friends of the Cheshire Public Library, 104 Main St., Cheshire – 06410 Mid-state Hospice & VNA, c/o Mid-state Medical Center, Meriden – 06451 WCAAA (Western Conn. Area Agency on Aging), 94 Progress Lane, Waterbury – 06705