Remembering President Wayne Miller

Bethany Theological Seminary is remembering Dr. Wayne L. Miller, seventh president of the Seminary, who passed away June 24, 2016, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, at the age of 91. A memorial service will be held at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 18, with luncheon to follow. Interment will be at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, North Manchester, Indiana, at a time of the family’s choosing. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the following:

• Bethany Theological Seminary, 615 National Road West, Richmond, IN 47374-4019. On the check, note that the contribution is for the Wayne and Gwen Miller Scholarship Fund.
• Brethren Village Development Department, 3001 Lititz Pike, PO Box 5093, Lancaster, PA 17606. On the check, note that the contribution is in memory of Wayne Miller.

Those interested in President Miller’s legacy to Bethany Seminary
at a pivotal time in its history can find the story here.

The following information is provided by the family.

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Dr. Wayne Lowell Miller was born in Wabash County, Indiana. His education included a BA from Manchester College, an MA from Purdue University, a bachelor of divinity (1954) from Bethany Theological Seminary, and a PhD in oral communications from the University of Southern California. He was an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, serving Brethren congregations in Indiana, Illinois, and Arizona and a Methodist congregation in California. As a college administrator, he served as campus minister of McPherson College 1964-67; dean of faculty and executive vice president of Elizabethtown College 1967-75; dean of the college and vice president of the University of La Verne 1975-80; president of Woodbury University, Los Angeles and Burbank, California, 1980-89; and president of Bethany 1989-92. He postponed retirement to serve at Bethany.

While in Los Angeles, Dr. Miller was a member of the Los Angeles Rotary Club, the Jonathan Club, and the Center City West Association. He was chairman of the latter for two years. He served in the United States Merchant Marine for three years during World War II and was eligible for the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific War Zone Medals and the Merchant Marine Emblem.

He was delighted with his family and was married to Gwendolyn Studebaker Miller for almost sixty-nine years. He is survived by his wife; children Kevin Miller of York County, Pennsylvania; Christopher Miller of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Teresa (Miller) Craighead of Ithaca, New York; and Sara (Miller) Miller of Modesto, California; grandsons Joshua, Noah, Thomas J., and John Miller and Daniel Craighead; and great-granddaughter Samantha Balliet Miller. He is also survived by his brother Kenneth of North Manchester, Indiana. Two sisters, Phyllis Miller Grossnickle and Edna May Miller, and one brother, Cecil Miller Pulley, preceded him in death.