Walker Miller, who sat on the U.S. District Court bench in Denver from 1996 to 2011, died suddenly of natural causes at his home in Greeley on Sunday.
“He was known as a very gentle and scholarly judge. He loved to fly-fish and he often took other judges on fly-fishing trips,” Chief U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger said Tuesday.
Miller was 74.
President Bill Clinton nominated Miller on April 18, 1996, to a seat vacated by James Carrigan. The Senate confirmed him two months later and received his commission on July 25, 1996, according to the Federal Judicial Center’s Biographical Directory of Federal Judges.
Miller, who attended the University of Colorado School of Law and received a masters of law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, began his career in private practice in Greeley, where he lived.
He practiced law in Greeley from 1965 to 1966 and then went to work as an assistant professor of law at the University of Kansas School of Law.
He went back to private practice in Greeley in 1969 and continued in that role until he assumed the judgeship.
Miller was a humble man, said Krieger. “He always styled himself as a country lawyer.”
Senior District Judge Wiley Daniel, a friend and colleague, said Miller was a compassionate and fair person.
“I am very saddened by his sudden passing,” Daniel said. “I had the utmost respect for his ability to be a fair jurist and his strong sense of justice.”
In 2006, he presided over the i .
Miller took inactive status in 2011 saying that he wanted to spend time with his family, according to Law Week Colorado.
“I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy a diverse legal career, and it’s been a privilege and honor to serve with my colleagues as a United States District Judge for the District of Colorado,” Miller said at the time. “I wish to spend more time with my family and find out who I am beyond the law.”
“He was a very strong family man,” former U.S. District Court clerk James Manspeaker said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee
![Newspaper advertisement offering reward for the return of an escaped man to his oppressors, Princess Anne, Maryland, April 1, 1861. Text reads: “0 Reward. Ranaway from the subscriber on Tuesday Morning, 26th Ultimo [last month], My negro boy calling himself Severn Black. The said negro is about 5 feet six inches in height, chesnut color, has a scar on his upperlip, downcast countenance when spoken to, blink-eyed, showing a great deal of white, long bushy hair, is about twenty years old, had on when he lefta [sic] blue fustian Jacket, pantaloons of a greyish color, blue striped shirt, a Black slouch hat and shoes nearly worn out. The above reward will be paid by me for the apprehension and delivery of the said negro in the county jail at Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland. April 1, 1861. Richard E. Snelling. Somerset Herald Print, Princess Anne, Md.’ The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 obliged citizens and lawmen of free zones to return escaped men to those whom they fled. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1.jpg?w=620 "GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1")
