SEMINOLE — The Seminole community has lost one of its most vocal and ardent supporters.
Longtime resident and business owner Bill Miller died Dec. 6 at the age of 63.
Miller was reared in a small farming community outside of Morocco, Indiana, and moved to Pinellas County when he was 17. Shortly after, he took a job at Anderson McQueen Funeral Home and later at Lewis W. Mohn Funeral Home, where he would spend the rest of his career. He received a bachelor’s degree in mortuary science from Gupton Jones College of Mortuary Science in Atlanta.
Miller later purchased Mohn Funeral Home after 45 years of dedicated service.
Possessed of a servant’s heart, Miller threw himself into his adopted community and spent almost five decades organizing charitable events that benefited those around him.
“My dad was totally unselfish in his devotion to this city and the Seminole community,” said his son and business partner Kirk Miller said. “He just about got into every single thing you could get into, really.”
Miller was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Seminole, where he chaired the nonprofit’s fall festival, helping to raise more than $250,000 over an almost 20-year span, as well as its annual Christmas Tree lot and haunted house.
“He dedicated just about his whole life to the Kiwanis Club of Seminole, where he served in nearly every single role, including president twice,” Miller said.
He was also an active supporter of Horses for Handicapped, All Children’s Hospital Guild and Seminole Elementary’s PTA.
“Bill was always interested in an event that would be fun and enjoyable and usually help or promote the community,” said longtime friend Eva Jones. “He was just always enthusiastic about events that would be fun and to benefit others. He was always so good at that.”
In 2003, Miller was named Honorary Fire Chief by Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue, which according to his son, was well-deserved, thanks in part to a piece of his own personal history. Many years ago, on a trip back home to Morocco, Miller said his dad saw that the city was selling one of its decommissioned antique fire trucks.
“He bought it and he drove that truck from Indiana all the way to Florida going 35 mph, because that’s what they always told him in town the truck would overheat,” Miller said. “It took him several days.
“Come to find out, the truck could do well over 35 and would not overheat,” Kirk said, laughing at the memory.
Miller’s lime green fire truck became a staple in area parades, including Seminole’s yearly Pow Wow parade.
“Over the years, after all my dad did for them, they (Suncoast Fire and Rescue) made him honorary fire chief,” Kirk said. “They said said, ‘Bill, if you let us use the fire trucks in all the local parades, we will fully restore the truck for you and will give it a home.’”
And that’s exactly what they did. For the last 25 years or more, the fire truck has been housed at the fire station in Seminole.
In 2017, Miller saw both great highs and difficult lows. He was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease, and later had his gallbladder removed. After months spent in and out of hospitals, Miller got the surprise of a lifetime. He was named Mr. Seminole during the Greater Seminole Chamber of Commerce’s 52nd annual awards banquet.
During the presentation, Sandy Hartmann praised Miller’s contributions to Seminole.
“He’s been contributing to Seminole for years,” Hartmann said at the time. “For over half a lifetime.”
But Miller was quick to give others praise.
“They give me a lot of credit for all this stuff,” Miller told Tampa Bay Newspapers following the ceremony. “But I was just the leader. The credit should really go to everyone else doing the work. Everyone deserves the credit. There’s a lot of people in Seminole that are more deserving than I ever will be.”
That humbleness was a hallmark of who he was every day, his son said.
“He was one of a kind,” Kirk said. “My dad was the unsung hero who had a heart to serve the community.”
