David G. Miller, MD

David G. Miller, MD, of Cleveland Heights OH and Bonners Ferry, ID  was a graduate of  Cleveland Heights High School and later one of their distinguished alumni; Michigan State University where he was at one time vice president of the student government; and Western Reserve University  Medical School   A lifelong member of Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, his belief in the principles of active service and social justice fostered by his religious beliefs guided his path through life. Following a residency at Boston City Hospital, in the early 1960s he was one of the first physicians in both the Centers for Disease Control’s Epidemic Intelligence Service and later, the newly formed Peace Corps, where he spent time in India, Pakistan, and lived in the country that later became known as Bangladesh for more than a year. As an Assistant Professor at Yale, under the mentorship of Rev. William Sloane Coffin, he was an active part of the civil rights movement, traveling with Coffin and others to St. Augustine Florida, where he was among a diverse group of protesters jailed along with the mother of the Governor of Massachusetts for desegregating a lunch counter. After their marriage in 1965, he and his wife, Charlotte Buck Miller relocated to Cleveland where he was recruited as Medical Director  of the newly founded Hough Norwood Neighborhood Health center; a position he held for 27 years. Dave was an Associate Professor in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine from 1967 and eventually retired as both an Emeritus Faculty from CWRU and from Vice-President of Integrated Health at Cleveland’s Metropolitan General Hospital.  

In his personal life, Dave was also a strong supporter of the Boy Scouts of America; a former Eagle Scout and later, volunteered as a doctor for the BSA summer camps near Cleveland. He enjoyed camping, hiking, traveling, reading, gardening, sailing, eating pie, cycling and the great outdoors. He was also a good cook, mixed an excellent Manhattan, and, at one point, brought his extended family together to build a cabin in the Idaho woods demonstrating his extensive skills in organization, management, hammer wielding, diplomacy, and basic herding, as everyone was still speaking at the end and the cabin still stands. He had a generous spirit, a ready laugh, a forgiving nature and great intelligence, kindness, charisma, humor and wisdom. He was always able to offer advice if asked, but never quick to volunteer it. We lay to rest David G. Miller, who just may have been the best man in the world.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Charlotte Buck Miller, MD; his children: Gordon G. Miller of Bonners Ferry, ID, Ann C. Miller (Daniel Hart) of Boston, MA and Abbie Mae Buck Miller (Kurt Eberly), of Washington DC; his grandsons, Lincoln and Liam; his brother, Rev. Laurence E. Miller (Janet B. Miller) of Columbus, Ohio; his nieces and nephews, and friends from around the world. He was predeceased by his sister, Eleanor McBride, of Cleveland Heights, OH.

Donations in his name can be made to the Holden Arboretum, 9550 Sperry Road, Kirtland, OH 44094.  

Services will be held at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Hts., OH 44118 on Saturday, February 25 at 2PM.