Obituary of Ronald H. Miller

Ronald H. Miller, 76, whose big heart, easy manner and devotion to public service endeared him to disparate communities of friends and family members in the Capital Area and beyond, died early Saturday at St. Peter’s Hospital. Wearing with pride the distinctive accent of his native Bronx, Miller was a 45-year resident of the Albany area – most of that time in Menands. After retiring as an economist at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, he and several colleagues formed the Hudson Group, LLC a consulting firm doing economic and environmental impact studies for municipalities. Miller served two terms as Trustee on the Menands Village Board, and was long active with the Colonie Democratic Town Committee. From 2008 to 2009 he was President of the Rotary Club of Menands, was a longtime Rotary Bell Ringer at Christmas raising contributions for local projects, and coordinated the group’s Chicken Barbecue fundraisers. In the early 1980s he was a Cub Scout Master. Miller attended yeshiva and public schools in the Bronx, before attaining a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s degree in economics from the City College of New York. He worked as an economist for the Port Authority of New York before moving to Washington, D.C., where he worked briefly and served in the National Guard – patrolling riot-torn streets following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. – before moving to Albany in 1970 with his then-wife, the former Louise Byer, who died in 1994 and was the mother of his two children. Miller was a former president of Congregation Beth Emeth’s Brotherhood in Albany, and was long active with the synagogue’s Social Action Committee. He was an original member of the congregation’s Sunday Soup Kitchen program in cooperation with the Interfaith Partnership Soup Kitchen of Catholic Charities. Many a Sunday – and Christmas and Easter – would find Ron organizing and dispensing hot meals to the Albany homeless, with fellow congregants at his side. He was selfless in his community work and endlessly generous throughout his life. Ron was universally loved and admired. Among his lifelong passions, Miller was an avid handball player – expert in the indoor four-wall game. He took First Place in the 1986 Capital District Handball Championships, and acquired generations of handball friends – and, in recent years, doubles partners – through his active involvement in the Court Club in Colonie. Other passions included progressive politics, model trains, a model boat he fashioned after the USS Slater, a retired destroyer escort docked in Albany – and, most of all, keeping in touch with and convening on every conceivable occasion with his wide circle of family and friends. In 1996, Miller married the former Nan Isaacson Windmueller, who survives him. In addition to his wife, Miller leaves his daughter Julie, of Tucson, Arizona, and his son Matthew, of Washington, D.C.; his brother, Herbert, of New York City, along with nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. Services at Congregation Beth Emeth, 100 Academy Road in Albany on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 11:00am Interment will follow services in the Beth Emeth Cemetery on Turner Lane in Loudonville, NY Contributions may be made to the Congregation Beth Emeth Social Action Committee Soup Kitchen, 100 Academy Road, Albany, NY 12208, or the Sister Maureen Joyce Center, 369 Livingston Avenue, Albany, NY 12206. Following the service of interment at Beth Emeth Cemetery, friends and family are respectfully invited to call at the Miller residence in Menands,