Israel Bernard “Buddy” Miller died on March 20, 2017. A native of Huntsville, he was born June 11, 1926, the son of Louis Miller and Elsie Ratner Miller. He was predeceased by Dolores Katz Miller, his beloved wife of 69 years; by his parents, his sister, Hilda Bernstein, and a daughter, Sholom Miller.
He is survived by his loving family, children, Sara Miller Denbo (Joel) of Decatur, Solomon I. Miller (Elizabeth) of Huntsville, and Joy Miller Greenberg (Kenneth) of Los Angeles; grandchildren, Ariel D. Zion (Jason Zion), Rachel D. Labovitz, MD (Marc Labovitz), Jessica D. Smith (Eric Smith), Isabelle R. Miller (Pedro Aguiar Cesar), Louis D. Miller, Erika L. Greenberg, and Shane E. Greenberg; great-grandson, Lincoln Zion; and great-granddaughters, Ava Zion, Miller Labovitz, Chandler Labovitz, and Raphaella Cesar.
He was the first baby born in Huntsville Hospital, days after it opened in 1926. He was a member of the Huntsville High class of 1944, and graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon TN as valedictorian of the class of 1944. Mr. Miller served in the US Naval Reserve from 1944-1946, and was a 1948 graduate of Georgia Tech. He was president and later board chairman of L Miller & Son, Inc., a firm established by his father in 1918. From 2000 until his retirement, he was a director of Tennessee Valley Recycling LLC.
A lifelong member of Temple B’nai Sholom, Mr. Miller served the congregation as president and as a trustee. He was active for many years in the Huntsville United Jewish Fund, the Huntsville Jewish Community Council, and served on the regional board of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith for over thirty years.
Active in civic affairs, he was a fifty-year member of the Huntsville Rotary Club, was a board member of the Huntsville Council of International Visitors, and served on the advisory board of the Salvation Army in Huntsville. He was a sixty-year member of Helion Masonic Lodge No. 1, a Scottish Rite Mason, and a charter member of the Cahaba Shrine Temple.
A loving and kind husband, son, brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he will be missed by his family, who will always cherish his memory.
A graveside service will be at Maple Hill Cemetery at 11:00 am Wednesday, with Rabbi Steven Jacobs officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to National Gaucher Disease Foundation Inc., (https://www.gaucherdisease.org) 5410 Edson Lane, Suite 220, Rockville, MD 20852; or to a charity of your choice.
