Civic leader, pastor was indefatigable community servant until the end
June 5, 1948 – September 9, 2021
OBITUARY
Stanley Miller accomplished more after his retirement from the phone company than most people manage to get done in a lifetime. He did it while spreading good will everywhere he went, and indeed, he seemed to be everywhere.
Stanley “Stan” Miller, 73 died on September 9, 2021, after a short battle with cancer.
The community responded to news of Stanley’s passing with shock and sadness, a measure of the void abruptly created.
“He was an inspiration,” recalls Constance Haqq, chief administrative officer of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, where Stanley helped launch the Ambassadors program as a way of pushing young people forward to realize their full potential. She remembers him as a “tireless worker”, always ready to leverage his own relationships and connections to enrich the lives of others, especially young people.
“Tireless worker” was a description Sharon Glaspie co-signs. She worked with Miller for more than a quarter-century at the phone company. He was “friendly and out-going, an outstanding public relations person”, she says, and a hard worker. “He was always the first to work and the last one to leave,” she remembers. “I could never beat him to work.”
Stanley’s talent and dedication took him from a mail room internship at Ohio Bell to an eventual vice presidency in corporate relations for SBC Global. He, Glaspie, and co-worker Jordan Henderson survived repeated consolidations, reorganizations, and shutdowns as Ohio Bell went through various incarnations.
Stanley’s work was only a part of his story. He founded, supported, and/or directed numerous initiatives to support colleagues, friends, and those who needed a hand. One of many such efforts was his participation in Blacks in Management, a group comprising the highest level African American employee at each big company in town. BIM existed to share information, for mutual support, for family social connections, and career advancement at a time when the isolation of black pioneers in corporate America made professional success a daunting goal. Stanley held every office in BIM at one time or another, recalls Glaspie. “He was the glue.”
Among the positions Miller held after his “retirement”: Head of School at Marcus Garvey Leadership Academy; Executive director at Neighborhood Centers Association; Interim Chief External Affairs at Cleveland Public Schools. Among his professional and social endeavors, he was a founding member of the Beta Rho Chapter of the Sigma Pi Phi Boule.
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Miller’s community work transcended neighborhood, religious, and cultural boundaries of every sort, consistent with the deep faith that animated him, and eventually led him into the ministry. Ordained late in life, he served several congregations as pastor, including Shaffer, Nottingham, Rust [Oberlin], and Wesley [Lorain] United Methodist congregations.
Stan was born on June 5, 1948, in Cleveland, Ohio to Idell and John Miller. He was a proud Tarblooder, graduating from Glenville HS in 1966. Upon graduating, Stan enrolled in Kent State University where he was a trombonist in the Golden Flashes Marching Band. Stan loved his years at Kent and could often be seen wearing blue and gold paraphernalia, attempting to convince young people to follow in his footsteps at KSU.
Undoubtedly, what helped to make his undergrad years so special was his marriage on June 8, 1968, to Veronica Perry, his high school sweetheart, his beloved “Ronnie”.
Stan graduated from Kent in 1971 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. A lifelong learner, Stan was especially proud to earn a Master of Nonprofit Administration and Leadership degree from Cleveland State University. He also studied at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Just last year, Stan studied and successfully achieved certification as a grief counselor.
Stan interned for Ohio Bell while a Kent undergrad, and went to work for the phone company after graduation. He worked for Ohio Bell/Ameritech for 33 years in a variety of managerial and leadership roles across Northeast and Central Ohio, ultimately retiring in 2004 as Vice President of External Relations.
Never known as someone who would sit, Stan continued his professional career in leadership roles with several organizations, most recently as manager of community and local government relations for the MetroHealth System. Undoubtedly, his most challenging role during this period of his life was serving as executive director of the Cleveland NAACP.
Stan was deeply committed to serving the people of Northeast Ohio. He served in over 30 community service organizations over the years. He received gubernatorial appointments from both parties. Gov. Voinovich named him to the board of Cuyahoga Community College, where he later served as vice chairman. Later, Gov. Strickland appointed him to serve on the Cuyahoga County Reform Commission.
Over the last few years, Stan worked to drive transformational change as chair of the East Cleveland Schools Academic Distress Commission. Fittingly, his most meaningful and perhaps consequential work was his tenure as member and president of the Warrensville Heights Board of Education. In that role he was not only serving the community but helping to shape the district that provided an educational foundation for his own two sons.
Next to his faith, Stan was most committed to his family. He somehow managed to be omnipresent in the wider community and yet present for every baseball game or other event of consequence in the lives of his children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother John Miller.
In addition to Ronnie, his wife of 53 years, Stanley’s survivors include sons Stan Jr. [Brande] and Steven [Lucy]; brothers Tyrone Miller, Frank Miller, and Czerny Miller; a sister, Linda Reed; nine grandchildren — Loren, Ahyesha, Habeeb, Naeyana, Jordan, Skylar, Samara, Sidney, Nicholas — and four great grandchildren — Kaiden, Karsyn, Mason, and Kingston; and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews. Stan is also survived by many relatives unconnected by consanguinity but nonetheless considered part of his family.
Final services will be held at Church of the Saviour, 2537 Lee Road [44118] at 11am Friday, September 17, 2021. A wake will precede the service at 10am.
Visitation will be from 4p-8p on Thursday, September 16, 2021, from 4p-8p, with calling hours beginning at 6p at Calhoun Funeral Home, 23000 Rockside Road [44146].
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Original Announcement, published September 9, 2021.
The Rev. Stanley Miller was a Cleveland institution, extraordinarily active in public spaces for many decades and across many boundaries. A former executive director of Cleveland NAACP, a long-time executive at Ameritech/Ohio Bell, pastor of several Methodist congregations in Cleveland and Lorain County, he came of age in the Glenville community of the 1950s and ‘60s. He later moved to Warrensville Heights where he was an especially active civic leader in the city’s schools, before eventually returning to his Glenville roots, where he died in home hospice care last night, after a sudden and brief illness.
A full obituary will appear in this space. Service information will be announced here when arrangements have been made.
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UPDATED September 15, 2021 @ 11:17p.
