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Former Maryland Senate President Mike Miller remembered for believing ‘leadership was service to others’

Then-Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. addresses a Catholics in Annapolis gathering in 2018. Sen. Miller died Jan. 15 at the age of 78. (CS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann)

The Jan. 23 funeral for former Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr., brought family and close friends in person and hundreds more over the internet to St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton, Maryland, to remember his passions: family, faith, work, the Maryland Terrapins and his Southern Maryland community.

 Sen. Miller, 78, died Jan. 15 at his Chesapeake Beach home from complications of prostate cancer.

 Before the funeral, his body lay in state in the State House for a day, honoring his nearly 60 years in state politics, most in the Senate, including 33 years as Senate president. That is believed to be a national record for length of time leading a state Senate.

 “Faith was an important part of his life,” said Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson in his homily at the funeral Mass. 

Sen. Miller was always interested in learning — about history or the teachings of the Church  — and how to make life better for his family and the people of Maryland, the priest said. “I could always be sure he would give me a history lesson” when they met for any reason, said Msgr. Jameson, rector of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. He recalled first meeting Sen. Miller at St. John’s, “right here in Miller Land,” when he was assigned there as a newly ordained priest in 1968. Sen. Miller’s ancestors were among the founding families for St. John’s parish.

 “Mike really was a man of God,” continued Msgr. Jameson. “His faith was so foundational.” The priest added that Sen. Miller also was “the first to recognize he wasn’t perfect. He would always say to me, ‘pray for me.’”

 In remarks following the Mass, two of Sen. Miller’s five children injected warmly humorous recollections into the memorial.

 Anne Arundel County District Court Judge Thomas V. Miller III, the eldest of Sen. Miller’s five children, struggled a bit with his emotions, jokingly lamenting, “I can’t believe I’ve got to follow that,” a rendition of “Ave Maria” that soared through the church.

 “He was my dad, my hero, my mentor,” Miller said, adding that he was wearing his father’s yellow tie, which was streaked with red marks, “probably from flinging pens all over the place,” a well-known habit of the late senator. The observation drew chuckles from the congregation.

 Miller described one of his dad’s lesser-known actions after his position in the Senate was established: giving younger members of the legislature credit for bills he was shepherding. It was one way in which he mentored younger politicians.

 “He put all his bills in other senators’ names,” said Miller. “He wasn’t interested in higher office.” His father also would coach newer legislators that if they were going to put a bill on the floor of the State House, “don’t try to read from it. You better know it, inside and out.”

 Melissa Ann Miller, the senator’s eldest daughter who worked alongside him for the last 20 years, also referred to those ubiquitous red pens, saying she’d used just such a pen in writing her notes for the funeral.

 She said that despite the long hours her father worked, “he was a constant presence in our lives.” He loved to shower his wife, Patricia, with cards for every occasion, and to make her laugh, she noted. And he doted on taking the family to the theater, “blasting show tunes in the car.”

 Sen. Miller’s daughter said that as a grandfather of 15, he developed “sleight of hand a drug dealer would be proud of,” to slip cash into his grandchildren’s hands.

 Her father was a constant presence in the community, and Miller said she regularly heard of people’s encounters with him, in the Hallmark store, at restaurants and sporting events. Not long ago, he agreed to represent a young man in court over a speeding ticket, pro bono, she said. The young adult wanted to resolve his situation without involving his parents and asked him for help at a Surrattsville High School football game. The senator’s presence in traffic court surprised many people.

 “He believed leadership was service to others,” she said. “He certainly valued character over pedigree. And he was no cynic.”

 Though the funeral Mass had a limited in-person congregation beyond the large extended Miller family, more than 300 people followed the service in a live webcast through the parish’s Facebook page. In the chat box of the page, comments of appreciation flowed.

 In comments emailed to the Catholic Standard, two professional acquaintances who counted Sen. Miller as a friend also praised his life and legacy.

 Mary Ellen Russell, a former executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said Sen. Miller was a longtime friend of the conference, though “as with anyone else in political office, we had areas of disagreement.”

 “Without a doubt his Catholic faith infused his commitment to fairness, to respecting the opinion of all,  and to lifting up the poor and vulnerable,” Russell said. “We are grateful for the many years of his friendship, and pray that God will bring him peace and comfort to his family and all those who mourn his absence.”

With Sen. Miller, occasional political differences “never stood in the way of maintaining an open and friendly dialogue throughout the years,” Russell said. “He was a genuine friend to the bishops and always welcomed their calls and visits.”

 Russell described Sen. Miller as “a true champion of the Catholic school community and repeatedly protected funding for a variety of programs to benefit students in Catholic and other non-public schools, including the textbook/technology and school safety programs, and most especially the BOOST scholarship program.”

Timothy F. Maloney, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates, had been Sen. Miller’s colleague in the legislature and his personal attorney for decades. Maloney pointed out the Miller family’s long ties to St. John the Evangelist Parish. The late senator and his children were baptized there and though he attended other Southern Maryland churches when he moved from Clinton to Chesapeake Beach, it remained his home parish, said Maloney.

“He was very close to many priests in Southern Maryland and consulted them for prayer, spiritual guidance and friendship,” wrote Maloney.

“Mike Millers Catholicism informed and guided his public service,” said Maloney. “His advocacy for the BOOST scholarships, his advocacy of Catholic Charities, and his support for the Maryland Catholic Conference all had its roots in the pews at St. Johns. For decades, Mike Millers office was the first stop in Annapolis for Catholic charities. His leadership and counsel were invaluable to the work of the Church in Annapolis.”

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