Necrology

Thomas Rockwell Miller '34

Mar. 29, 1914-Dec. 14, 2005

Thomas Rockwell Miller ’34, a retired teacher and former auto parts manager, was born on March 29, 1914, to Thomas W. and Iola Record Miller, in Rome, NY. “Rocky” Miller came to College Hill from Rome Free Academy in 1930. Besides playing golf (he would become permanently addicted to the game) and helping to enliven the scene at North, “the little fellow from Rome” demonstrated a talent for biology, capturing the Renwick Prize.

Following his graduation with honors in biology in 1934, Rocky Miller did some private tutoring while employed by the Depression-era Works Project Administration. In 1936, he went to work for S.S. Kresge Co., the dime store chain. Beginning as a stockman in Rome, he became merchandise manager for various Kresge stores in New York and New Jersey. In 1945, after a brief wartime stint in employee relations at Picatinny Arsenal, the federal armaments facility in Dover, NJ, he worked for automobile dealers as a parts manager, first in Paterson, NJ, and later in Oneida, NY, near his hometown.

In 1959, Rocky Miller struck out on a new path as a junior high school teacher of science, mathematics, and French in the Rome School District. While adding to his credentials by taking courses at regional colleges, he continued to teach in Rome for 20 years until his retirement in 1979.

Thomas R. Miller died on December 14, 2005, in Rome, at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife, the former Charlotte Krotter Abbe, to whom he was married in 1964. Also surviving is a sister, Ruth Hosley, as well as nieces and nephews.

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