Peter Lukens Miller

Peter Lukens Miller passed away at age 97 on June 15, 2021 at the White Horse Village retirement community in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania where he lived with his wife of 75 years, Mary Dorn Miller. They previously resided in Nether Providence PA and Springfield PA. He is survived by his wife; their five children, Peter L. Miller, Jr. (Susan) of Eastham MA, Steven D. Miller (Joan) of Concordville PA, Richard D. Miller (Jacki) of Swarthmore PA, David L. Miller (Gene) of Weston MA, and Cynthia (Miller) Ozirsky (Timothy) of Andover MA; twelve grandchildren, Peter L. Miller, III, Andrew, Kristin, Steven, Jr. (Jeannine), Carlyn, Matthew, Harrison, David, Gene, Charlotte, John, and Phebe; and three great grandchildren, Peter L. Miller, IV (Luke), Elizabeth, and Ethan (born May 3, 2021). He was an enormously proud and loving father, grandfather, and great grandfather. At family gatherings he would rise to give his heartfelt thanks to his large and loving family. He will be greatly missed.

"Pete" was born November 7, 1923, and was the third of three sons of Phebe Lukens Miller and Harry Lynn Miller. Pete grew up in Swarthmore PA and starting when he was about five years old spent his summers at Long Camp, a cabin his parents rented near Elfin Lake in Wallingford VT. Later his parents bought a farmhouse in the next town. Vermont was a boy's paradise. Nine boys about the same age from three families lived by the lake. The boys spent most days outdoors, barefoot, climbing trees and building tree huts, digging tunnels in the clay knolls, and fishing, swimming, and row boating at the lake.

Pete graduated from Swarthmore High School in 1941 and matriculated at Swarthmore College to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Both of Pete's parents were graduates of Swarthmore College and Pete's grandfather, John Anthony Miller, had been a Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy there, starting in 1906, followed by 16 years as Vice President of the College and then as Director of the Sproul Observatory. During his wartime college years, Pete joined the US Navy's V-12 program later switching to the V-5 program to become a Naval Aviator. When the war ended, he returned to the College and graduated in February 1946.

Pete and Mary met at a church-sponsored dance while Pete was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Willow Grove PA. Mary grew up in Glenside PA and had just graduated from high school in Abington PA. They were married on May 25, 1946, and moved into an apartment in the center of Swarthmore. Pete and his second brother, John Anthony Miller, II, went to work as engineers for their father's company, Chester-Jensen Company, Inc. in Chester PA, manufacturers of sanitary stainless steel heat exchange and other processing equipment. His duties included engineering and designing equipment, production coordination, payroll management and collections. Pete eventually served as President and Chairman of the company for many, many years. When their first child arrived, Pete and Mary moved into a new 2-story, 3-bedroom brick house in Springfield PA for which they paid the exorbitant sum of $11,990 that was over their budget. In 1955, when their family had outgrown the house, they moved into a new larger home in Marple Township just across the line from Springfield.

Pete and Mary had many friends, especially 3 couples that were classmates of Mary in high school. The couples frequently had dinner parties and played duplicate bridge together. Their families shared picnics together every year and they vacationed together at the New Jersey Shore when their children were young. In 1962 Pete and Mary and two other couples and some of their children went skiing at Magic Mountain in Vermont. This got Pete and Mary back in touch with Vermont. Each of the next several summers the family vacationed for a few weeks in cabins near Elfin Lake where Pete had spent his summers. By 1966 they had bought a house lot near the lake and Pete and his sons cut a path through the woods to the top of the knoll on the lot. The shell of the house was livable by Memorial Day weekend in 1967 when Pete and his children stained the outside of the house. Over the many decades since then the whole family has made many friends and had wonderful times with our Vermont neighbors, especially the families in the beach association at the lake.

Pete enjoyed golf and had a family membership at Rolling Green Golf Club for decades. For nearly fifty years he was a second-generation member and officer of the venerable Ozone Club, America's oldest continuous golfing group, playing many of the finest courses in the Tri-State area. Pete enjoyed watching professional golf and professional football on television. He was active for decades on the Board of Trustees of the Chester-Crozier Medical Center and served as Chairman for many years.

Pete loved to build things. In his youth he built many gasoline-powered, balsawood and tissue paper model airplanes launching them into free flight in farm fields. Pete built the crib and nursery room furniture used by all his children. The crib is still in the Vermont house and has been used by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He made extensive improvements to all their homes including adding walls and built-in cabinets. The Vermont house was initially just an outer shell. He added the interior walls, insulation, some plumbing, the electric heat and much more to make it a dream vacation home for his family. In later life Pete spent countless hours building model airplanes and ships. He also loved flying some of his remote-control model planes at a field near the Vermont house. He even built a float plane and flew it from Elfin Lake while he stood on the dock at the beach. Once he got it too close to the edge of the lake and it crashed in the tops of the trees. After some professional help retrieving it and making some repairs, he was soon back at the dock for more flights. He was extremely proud of two large planes he built that each had more than a five-foot wingspan. He painted the P-47 and P-51 planes to look exactly like the planes his oldest brother, 1 ^st Lt. Harry Lynn Miller, Jr., had flown in England during World War II with the Eighth Air Force. Harry went Missing In Action in northern France on June 8, 1944, two days after the D-Day landings. Even late in life Pete said that he thought about his brother every day.

Pete and Mary liked to travel. They went on a couple of cruises to Cuba and the Caribbean. They travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and China. They often went together to some of Pete's annual business conferences which were held in a different location each year so that the participants got to see new places and experience new golf courses. One year the conference was in Hawaii. Pete and Mary went back for vacation the next year by themselves and bought a timeshare condo. For many years they enjoyed their winter on Kauai where many mornings Pete would look out at the beautiful scenery and declare, "Well, it's another lousy day in Paradise!"

Pete will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at the Upper Dublin Friends Meeting, Ambler, PA.

There will be a visitation Wednesday evening, June 30th from 6-8 pm at the Rigby Harting & Hagan Funeral Home. 15 E. Fourth St. Media, PA 19063. Anyone who wishes to pay their respects to the Miller family is encouraged to attend the visitation at the funeral home Wednesday evening.

A memorial service will be held on July 1, 2021 at 10:00 AM in the White Horse Village Auditorium at 535 Gradyville Rd., Newtown Square PA 19073. Due to Covid-19 limitations attendance will be limited and a reservation will be required. Masks will be required. Reservations can be made by sending an email to Rick Miller at rickm@chester-jensen.com .

For those who cannot make a reservation a reception will be held under a tent outside the entrance to the White Horse Village main building on July 1, 2021 from 9:00 to 9:45 AM.

In lieu of flowers gifts may be made to the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, 727 Harvard Ave, Swarthmore, PA 19081.

Arrangements provided by Rigby Harting & Hagan Funeral Home 15 E. 4th Street Media, PA  19063

www.haganfuneralhome.com