John Robert Miller

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, November 8 from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, 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 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 Miller 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 part of it as its birds, its flowers, its trees, and its animals. His love of hunting, fishing and photography were the ways he sustained his environment, enjoyed its pleasures, interacted with its inhabitants, and recorded and shared its mysteries. In his well-crafted chronicles Bob Miller writes as a man true to his countryside and the people who lived there.

Folk may think of Bob Miller as a quiet, dignified man. He was both, yet his opinions were real, stated with conviction, yet guided by restraint. Yet 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 over fifty-five 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 Miller worked with the Bedford Gazette for thirty-three years as the Classified Circulation Manager. He also served honorably with the United States Coast Guard in WWII.  As a servant of his faith Bob Miller was both a past Clerk and Trustee of the Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting. For over eighteen 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 his responsibilities to his employers and his country, he optimized the true American spirit. He marked his place more by deeds than 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 sixty-three years Bette Lu Miller of Spring House Estates, Everett, PA, his son and daughter-in-law Don and Lynda Miller, Tyrone, PA, and daughter and son-in-law Marilyn and Peter Duncan, Wanaka, New Zealand. Others are grandchildren Amy Miller, Alexandria, VA, Marni Miller, Tyrone, PA, Chad and Marcy Herzog, James Creek, PA, Heidi and Beau Nobmann, Lodi, CA. Great-grandchildren include Kobe Miller, Tyrone, PA, and Oshyn and Cruz Nobmann, Lodi, CA. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law Shari and Jim Malone, Pine Knoll Shores, NC, Matt Malone, Charlotte, NC, and Brandon and Joy Martin-Malone, Belmont, NC.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday November 14th, 11:00 a.m. at the Dunnings Creek Friends Meetinghouse in Fishertown.  Arrangements by Timothy A. Berkebile Funeral Home in Bedford.  In lieu of flowers, Memorial contributions may be made to the Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting in care of Mrs. Ingrid Hoffnar 3238 Hickory Hollow Road, Six Mile Run, PA. 16679. Our online guest book is available www.berkebilefuneralhome.com.