Bill Miller sailed dinghies, led choirs, played in dance bands and taught math, and he continued pursuing his interests through the 25 years he battled leukemia.
Miller died at a hospice Dec. 9. He was 85.
A memorial is planned at 2 p.m. Dec. 30 at First Baptist Church, 1373 Grant St.
Miller managed to control the lymphocytic leukemia until recently. He suffered a brain aneurysm, which killed the nerves that allowed peripheral vision.
Miller was the sponsor of a ski club at Merrill Junior High School, was on a ski patrol, played trombone with the Central City Opera for 10 years, played with the Antonio Brico Orchestra, was director of the choir at Church of the Master in Park Hillm and was music director of the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps.
He also played trombone, guitar and bass in area dance bands. He was still playing until a few months ago, said his son Jeffrey Miller.
Though he planned to teach music, he wound up teaching math, but music was never far away.
“He brought music into all our lives,” Jeffrey Miller said. Jeffrey Miller sang, and his brothers all played instruments.
Bill Miller’s other love was racing dinghies, which he did at various lakes in Colorado, around the United States and in Canada. He began sailing in 1964 and continued until this past summer, said his wife, Ruth.
He taught his sons how to operate the two-person dinghies.
William L. Miller Jr. was born in Springfield, Mo., on Oct. 2, 1924, and moved to Denver with his parents two years later. He graduated from East High School. His studies at the University of Denver were interrupted by a stint in the Navy. After that, he attended the New England Conservatory (of music) and then transferred back to DU, where he earned a music degree with a math minor.
On June 12, 1949, he married Ruth Katherine Thode.
There were no music teaching jobs open when he graduated, so he taught math at Byers Junior High School and then went to Merrill Middle School in 1953, where he stayed for more than 25 years. Miller had black curly hair and at one point had it cut in an Afro. One of his students was heard to remark, “That’s the honky with the ‘fro,” his wife said.
He retired from teaching in 1983 and took a job at the Lynch Yacht Store.
In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by two other sons, Mark Miller of Annapolis, Md., and Paul Miller of Plano, Texas; six grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Another son, Neil Miller, died in 2002.
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Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
