Obituary of Judith Miller

Judith Miller died December 28, after a long illness. Since 2010, she has been living in the nurturing care of Eddy Heritage House, in Troy, New York. She was 85 years old. Judith was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and lived there until she was 22. She had attended the The University of Cape Town, and graduated with Master’s degrees in English and Psychology. She had also been very active in the anti-apartheid movement, and was the Associate Editor of Africa South, the leading Anti-Apartheid magazine. In 1952, she moved to London to study for her Doctorate in Psychology at the University of London and the Maudsley Institute. There, in 1957, she met Alan Miller, who had been sent by the National Institute of Health to study the new English approaches to Community Psychiatry. They worked together, fell in love, and decided to marry. She returned to Cape Town. Alan was assigned to Denver, Colorado . After a year of daily correspondence, they met in London in May 1959 and were married there, beginning 56 wonderful years together. She became an American citizen in 1961. They have five terrific children: Matthew Miller, M.D., Karen Miller. M.D, Julia Hatt A.A., from Alan’s first marriage; Margaret Miller, Ed.D., and Dan Miller Ph.D, are from their marriage. They have all grown up together. Judith was a loving and devoted mother. She has eight grandchildren: Katie Rose Miller, Nathaniel Miller, Jasmine Hatt, Eric Hatt, Benjamin Christopher, Eli Christopher, Sophie Miller, and Ezekiel Miller, and four Great-Grand children! And they all get along! In addition to raising her family, in Denver, she worked part-time as a school psychologist, as she did in Bethesda Maryland, and in Albany, where the family moved in 1964. Here, she worked first at the Child Research and Study Center at SUNY, and then for many years, as a member of BOCES, a school psychologist in several area school districts. She was a board member of several community organizations, and volunteered as an English as a Second Language tutor and as a Reader to young children in the Albany Public Schools. None of this can express the quiet way in which she created the world in which we all grew and thrived. During the past nearly six years, her growing health problems made it necessary for her to live at the Eddy Heritage House Nursing Home. They have been wonderful. If anyone wishes to make a contribution to honor Judith, The Eddy Heritage House in Troy would be a most deserving recipient. Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, December 30 at Levine Memorial Chapel 649 Washington Avenue in Albany at 1:00pm , with a graveside service to follow at Temple Israel Cemetery on Western Avenue in Guilderland, NY The family will be sitting Shiva and seeing visitors from 6-8PM at the family home at 99 Dumbarton Drive, Delmar.