Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Official supported city's best asset

In his time on the Port Richey City Council, Fred Miller made protecting waterways a priority.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published October 5, 2006

PORT RICHEY - This little city's claim to fame is its proximity to the clear blue waters of the Pithlachascotee River and the Gulf of Mexico.

One of the biggest supporters of its waterways has been Fred Miller, who backed dredging and a stormwater impact fee designed to pay for runoff treatment during his tenure on the City Council.

He served a one-year term in 1995 and a two-year term that ended this spring, even in the midst of battling lung cancer that was diagnosed three years ago.

But Mr. Miller lost his battle with the disease Tuesday (Oct. 3, 2006) at the Hernando-Pasco Hospice. Mr. Miller, who turned 64 Friday, had been plagued by tumors that had spread to his spine. He will be cremated.

On Wednesday, city officials past and present remembered Mr. Miller, a founding member of the Coastal Conservation Association and the Cotee River Task Force, as an honest man with a love for the environment.

"If he liked an idea you had, you knew it," said Jerry Calhoun, city manager. "You always knew where you stood with Fred. He was a real advocate to clean the waterways. I promised him I'd do that."

Nanette Miller first laid eyes on her future husband in 1975, at a disco club in Detroit.

Then 34 and wearing a green leisure suit and platform boots, Mr. Miller stopped by the club to meet a waitress, who ended up calling in sick.

But his trip wasn't all for naught. He spotted Nanette, slicing lemons at the club's bar while moving to the music. He's not my type, she thought.

Even so, Mr. Miller soon asked her out, and his fancy footwork on the dance floor stole her heart. They married in 1980 and have three children.

While in Michigan, Mr. Miller had an industrial mail-order business geared toward phone companies.

The couple moved to Port Richey in 1982. During his free time, Mr. Miller golfed, bowled and fished for grouper, which he'd filet for his wife.

Mr. Miller started a retail outlet at USA Flea Market in Port Richey. He retired after his cancer diagnosis.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Miller was taken to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. He was placed in hospice care last week.

"What I think people have to know about him is that he shared his illness, his horrible disease, with the public, so if they were going through the same thing, they had the courage to fight," said council member Phyllis Grae.

"To use a military term, he's the guy you wanted in your foxhole," said Jim Priest, a former council member who served alongside Miller. "It's good to be around individuals like that."

[Last modified October 4, 2006, 23:01:49]