Men are often remembered for the wealth of their worldly goods or their place in the lives of others. Good men are better remembered not for these things but the good things they did for others.
John Robert Miller of Bedford County died peacefully early Sunday morning, Nov. 8, 2009, from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). He was a good man. He was a man of his family, a compassionate family elder, a much loved and respected guide, a wise counselor and a loyal friend.
He once told his granddaughter that his proudest achievement was being a father. It was, he had said, the nearest thing to a miracle God had given him.
Bob was born in Fishertown, Bedford County, of Quaker stock in 1922. He learned early that he was a steward of his surroundings and as much a part of it as its birds, its flowers, its trees and its animals. His love of hunting, fishing and photography was the way in which he sustained his environment, enjoyed its pleasures, interacted with its inhabitants and recorded and shared its mysteries. In his well-crafted chronicles, Bob writes as a man true to his countryside and the people who lived there.
Folks may think of Bob as a quiet, dignified man. He was both, yet his opinions were real, stated with conviction, yet guided by restraint. However, his restraint could never be mistaken for reluctance to participate in the affairs of his community or his country.
He was a member of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department for more than 55 years, serving as its president and becoming a life member. He was a past president of the Bedford Area school board, the Bedford Water Authority and a board member and past president of the Fishertown Cemetery Association. His musical pleasures included singing with the Harmony Hill group and playing in the Fishertown Band. For many years, he was a member of the Flickers Club.
Bob worked with the Bedford Gazette for 33 years as the classified circulation manager. He also served honorably with the U.S. Coast Guard in WWII. As a servant of his faith, Bob was a past clerk and trustee of the Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting.
For more than 18 years, Bob and his wife, Bette Lu, wintered in Arizona, winning the regard and respect of their snowbird friends.
John Robert Miller will be remembered as a man of compassion, dignity, loyalty and duty. In his family life, in the devotion to affairs of his community, in his pleasures and in his responsibilities to his employers and his country, he optimized the true American spirit.
He marked his place more by deeds than by words. He demonstrated his patriotism and his loyalty to the ideals of his country by the way he led his life. It is this legacy he leaves to all who knew him and his surviving closer family members.
These include his wife of 63 years, Bette Lu Miller of Spring House Estates, Everett; his son and daughter-in-law, Don and Lynda Miller of Tyrone; and his daughter and son-in-law, Marilyn and Peter Duncan of Wanaka, New Zealand. Others are grandchildren: Amy Miller of Alexandria, Va., Marni Miller of Tyrone, Chad and Marcy Herzog of James Creek, and Heidi and Beau Nobmann of Lodi, Calif. Great-grandchildren include: Kobe Miller of Tyrone and Oshyn and Cruz Nobmann of Lodi, Calif. He also is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Shari and Jim Malone of Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.; Matt Malone of Charlotte, N.C.; and Brandon and Joy Martin-Malone of Belmont, N.C.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, at Dunnings Creek Friends Meetinghouse in Fishertown. Arrangements are by Timothy A. Berkebile Funeral Home Inc., Bedford. An online guest book is available at www.berkebilefuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting in care of Mrs. Ingrid Hoffnar, 3238 Hickory Hollow Road, Six Mile Run, PA 16679.
