Necrology

Robert Branson Miller, Jr. '57

Aug. 10, 1935-Mar. 5, 2007

Robert Branson Miller, Jr. ’57, a retired newspaper publisher and community leader and benefactor, was born on August 10, 1935, in Battle Creek, MI. A son of Robert B., president and later owner of Federated Publications, Inc. (a chain of newspapers founded by his father, Albert R. Miller), and Jean Leonard Miller, he grew up in Battle Creek and prepared for college at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. He entered Hamilton in 1953 and joined Chi Psi. However, after two years of academic struggle and realizing that he was “not ready for college,” Bob Miller left the Hill and in 1956 joined the U.S. Navy. After his two-year enlistment was up he enrolled at Michigan State University, where he majored in English and earned his B.A. degree in 1960.

That year, Bob Miller, who had worked part-time for the Lansing State Journal, a Federated Publications newspaper, while at the University, joined its staff full-time. At the State Journal, Bob Miller received extensive training for the family business in a variety of jobs encompassing the news department, advertising, circulation, promotion, and public service. He left the paper in 1966 to become assistant to the publisher of the Idaho Statesman in Boise, and in 1969 he was named publisher of the Daily Olympian in Washington State. Both newspapers were part of the Federated chain. In 1971, he returned to the Idaho Statesman as its publisher. Although his father had sold the Federated newspapers to the Gannett chain that year, the family continued active in their management.

Bob Miller remained in Idaho until 1979, when, upon his father’s retirement, he returned to his hometown and assumed the publishing reins of the Battle Creek Enquirer, the first link in the chain that his grandfather had forged. He retired from the Enquirer in 1990, after battling for 13 years the increasingly devastating physical effects of Parkinson’s disease. During his tenure he had revamped the newspaper and modernized its production. Known to colleagues and friends as a man of charm and wit, he continued the newspaper’s tradition of promoting civic pride while also supporting positive community change.

Active in the community, Bob Miller, through the Miller Foundation, carried on his family’s extensive philanthropic endeavors in the Battle Creek area. In addition to involvement in the Foundation’s many projects for civic and educational improvement, he was personally active as a volunteer for numerous charitable and cultural organizations and causes.

Robert B. Miller’s 30-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease ended in his native Battle Creek on March 5, 2007. A faithful alumnus, he is survived by his wife, Pattricia Levitt Miller, whom he had wed in 1979. Also surviving are two daughters and two sons from his first marriage, Melissa A. Boley, Jennifer M. Sullivan, and Gregory A. and Jeffrey W. Miller, as well as a stepson, seven grandchildren, and a brother.

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