Nancy H. Miller

Nancy H. Miller

Nancy H. Miller died on October 23, 2024, at the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains, NJ. She was 92 years old and a resident of Cranford.

She was born on August 14, 1932, in Elizabeth, NJ, to Gustav and Eleonora Hoffacker, the third of three daughters after sisters Eleanor and Carolyn. Her father worked as a draftsman at Diehl Manufacturing Company and sold insurance on the side, and her mother was a homemaker. 

Nancy graduated from Battin High School in Elizabeth. Family lore has it that she was torn between studying art or music in college, having great talent in both. In the end she elected to pursue music at New Jersey College for Women, later Douglass College of Rutgers University. In 1954, she received a B.A., with honors, in music education and was the recipient of the Julia Carlie Memorial Prize in Original Composition. She went on to receive a Master’s degree in music education from Rutgers University and subsequently worked as a music teacher in the Highland Park, NJ, schools and later as a private flute teacher. 

On December 23, 1954, she married Clinton H. Miller, III, a cousin of one of her Battin High School classmates and her senior prom date. They had five children: Brian, who died a few days after his birth in 1957; Susan, who died in 1970; Sarah Gallagher (husband Daniel Gallagher); Kenneth; and Karen (partner Bruce Rockwell). She is also survived by her two grandsons, A. Mattson Gallagher and James Gallagher and her nephew Peter Townley (wife Joan). Her husband Clint passed away in 2020. 

In 1966, the family moved to Makati, Metro Manila, in the Philippines when Clint took a position at Philippine American Life Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG. The family would remain in the Philippines until 1974 and traveled extensively around the world during that period. Nancy became deeply involved in church and mission activities while overseas. 

Returning to New Jersey in 1974, the family settled in Cranford and joined Trinity Episcopal Church and she and Clint quickly became pillars of that community. She sang in the soprano section of the choir for many decades, formed and led a children’s choir, and was involved in Sunday school leadership, rector search committees, ECW, and vestry membership. As her children got older, she looked for additional outlets for her energy and began selling Avon products, earning President’s Club status numerous times and turning many customers into fast friends. 

Wanting to deepen her religious education, Nancy enrolled in graduate school at Drew University and, at age 55, received a Master of Theological Studies, magna cum laude. After graduating, she worked for 12 years as a Director of Christian Education, first at Christ Church in Shrewsbury and later at St. Andrew’s in New Providence. 

Nancy was also involved in Episcopal Church leadership at the Diocesan level, including membership on the Diocesan Formation Commission, as an elected member of Cathedral Chapter (the Bishop’s governing board for Trinity Church, Trenton), and in deacon training. She led workshops for religious educators in storytelling, curriculum evaluation, learning approaches, and liturgies for children. She authored numerous curricular materials and published pieces in The Living Church and Women’s Book of Uncommon Prayers. From 1992 to 2019, she regularly preached from the Trinity Cranford pulpit and was a licensed lay Eucharistic minister. For decades, she led a Thursday morning Ladies’ Bible Study at Trinity, meeting throughout the pandemic on Zoom. 

Nancy was an accomplished composer who wrote incidental service music, some of which is still occasionally sung at Trinity Church Cranford. Of her many achievements, one gave her particular pride and pleasure. In 1955, she entered and won a competition to write the music for a new Alma Mater commemorating the renaming of Douglass College. For a 2003 article in Douglass’s alumni magazine, Nancy commented that she felt a thrill every time she returned to campus and heard “her” Alma Mater sung: “I can’t really describe how it feels—to hear all those voices singing it, it’s just beyond description. Sometimes I think now I can die knowing I’ve done something worthwhile.” 

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, November 16, 11:00 AM, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 119 Forest Avenue, Cranford, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Trinity Episcopal Church Cranford and the Center for Hope Hospice.