Zeeland Record
Former Howard Miller Company president and chief executive officer Jack H. Miller is being remembered for his generosity to the Zeeland community and all of West Michigan.
Miller, who served for 28 years as president and CEO of the company founded by his father in 1926, died Wednesday, April 2. He was 93.
Miller held a senior management position at Howard Miller Company for 48 years, and was on the company’s board of directors at the time of his death. He was company president and CEO from 1974 to 2002.
“Jack Miller was a visionary leader and passionate philanthropist whose profound impact on our community will never be forgotten,” City Manager Tim Klunder said in a prepared statement.
Miller was the first significant donor for the construction of the Howard Miller Library and Community Center, which opened in October 1995, Klunder said.
“We are most thankful for his generous donations to the Howard Miller Library and Community Center,” Mayor Kevin Klynstra said. “Our sincere condolences go out to Jack Miller’s family, friends, and all who were privileged to know him. The community has truly lost a remarkable individual.”
Jack Miller was born on March 21, 1932 to Howard C. and Martha (Muller) Miller. He graduated from Zeeland High School in 1950 and Hope College in 1954. He served in Army Intelligence during the Korean War.
Miller was known throughout West Michigan for his leadership and philanthropy. Besides his leadership role at Howard Miller, he served as a corporate director at First Michigan Bank (now Huntington Bank). He was also a director and chairman of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
Miller’s community service included time on the boards of Aquinas College, the Davenport University Foundation, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and Resthaven. He was a trustee for the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Grand Rapids Symphony, Grand Valley State University Foundation and Michigan Botanic Garden Foundation. He also served as director and board chairman at Zeeland Community Hospital and as a consistory member at Second Reformed Church in Zeeland.
“His leadership on various boards has been an example of giving back to the community with expertise that could be shared,” former Zeeland Chamber of Commerce executive director Ann Query wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record. “He served in ways that his family and other community members have been inspired to follow. We are grateful for all that he shared and for the leadership that he showed.”
Miller received numerous awards during his lifetime, including the Grand Rapids Symphony Bravo Award (1999), Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame (2003), GVSU Enrichment Award (2007), and Resthaven Good Shepherd Award (2008).
In 2013, Miller made a major gift to Hope College toward the construction of a new musical arts building that bears his name. Upon the opening of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, he expressed his love of music with the following quote:
“We live in a world where every day we see and hear of hardships and suffering around the world. We are torn apart by war, violence, sickness and sadness. Music is a place we can turn to find comfort and enjoyment; a way we can leave behind our worries and quietly enjoy the peace and relaxation music can provide, if only for a brief respite,” he said.
The Miller Center for Musical Arts features an 800-seat concert hall, a smaller recital hall and dedicated rehearsal space and individual practice rooms.
Miller’s philanthropic contributions also include the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s Miller Veranda, the GVSU Seidman Center’s Jack H. Miller Wing and a floor named in his honor in the new GVSU Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health.
Miller also made a significant gift to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital for them to offer a leading-edge technology in neuroscience called magnetoencephalography (MEG). This technology will treat patients with epilepsy and brain tumors. The hospital named the sixth floor of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a floor dedicated to neurosciences care, in honor of Jack.
One of Miller’s final gifts was to help Western Theological Seminary launch a trauma-informed master of arts program in clinical mental health counseling. Graduates from this program will become licensed therapists and be deployed to alleviate the rising mental health crisis in the country.
Miller was preceded in death by his parents; the mother of his children, Betty R. Miller; and an infant son, Roderick Miller.
Miller is survived by three children, Susan (Tom) DenHerder, Howard “Buzz” (Lisa) Miller, and Margaret “Meg” (Greg) Willit. Buzz Miller is the current president and chief operating officer of Howard Miller Company.
Miller is also survived by his grandchildren, Martha (Phil) Menerick, Matt (Katie) DenHerder, Felicia Flores, Kenneth Mills, Nathan Willit and Andrew Willit; five great-grandchildren, Ellie, James, Benjamin, Christian and Maximus; and siblings, Connie (Lenard) Johnston and Phillip (Nancy) Miller. Phillip Miller is the current chairman and CEO of Howard Miller Company. Jack is also survived by his loving friend and companion of many years, Susan Horsfall.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Second Reformed Church, 225 E. Central Ave. A private interment will be at Zeeland Cemetery. A time of visitation will take place tonight from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to the time of the service at Second Reformed Church.
Miller always had a passion to aid the hungry and homeless, and a donation in his memory to one of the many West Michigan charities that serve these needs would be appreciated.
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