Bruce Eugene Miller (1939 - 2017)
Obituary
Bruce Eugene Miller passed away from
heart failure peacefully at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada on March
20, 2017, with his wife by his side.
Bruce was born on April 15, 1939, in
Newton, to Chalmers "Chink" Hutton Miller and Florence May
(Heck) Miller.
Bruce graduated from Kansas State
University in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education and
U.S. history. He and then wife Sara Kathryn (Sylten) Miller of
Hiawatha moved to Tasmania, Australia, to teach school. Upon
returning to the U.S., he earned his law degree in 1970, from
Washburn University in Topeka.
A scholar and a gentleman, he spent his
entire career in the pursuit of community service. He served as a
high school teacher in Kansas, and Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
After earning his law degree and a short time in private practice in
Hiawatha, he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of
Kansas, based in Topeka, and later as Deputy Attorney General, Chief
of Litigation for the State of Kansas. He was then appointed by the
Kansas Supreme Court as Disciplinary Administrator for the state.
Bruce and Holly Lynn Edmonson of
Herington were married by the honorable Robert Miller, Chief Justice
of the Kansas Supreme Court in 1982 and they were inseparable for 35
years.
After retiring from the Disciplinary
Administrator's Office in 1995, he and Holly moved to Arizona to
build a home and bed and breakfast amongst the hummingbirds of the
Chiricahua Mountains. In 1999, they moved to Las Vegas, where he
spent the remainder of his years living in the Summerlin area.
Bruce loved physical activity. During
his career and into retirement he spent most lunch breaks at the
YMCA, swimming and participating in a variety of sports. Weekends
were full of outdoor activities, including gardening, biking, hiking
and camping. Riding his bicycle across Kansas was a yearly event in
the 1990s. Bruce enjoyed social activities and he and Holly hosted
many holiday parties and social gatherings in their home in Topeka.
He organized canoe trips and ski trips for his office staff and
family most years. One of his passions was playing chess and he was a
member of a chess club in Topeka.
Bruce is survived by his wife Holly;
his brother, Richard Chalmers Miller of Wichita; his half-brother,
Steve Neil Miller of Brentwood, Tennessee; sons, Peter Martin
(Kristin) Miller of Grants Pass, Oregon and David Malcolm (Anne)
Miller of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; grandchildren, Sadie and Karl
Miller of Oregon, and Katie and Benjamin Miller of Minnesota.
