Paul Clayton Miller

Paul Clayton Miller

April 25, 1933 – April 6, 2023

Paul Miller, loving father and friend to many, died peacefully at Arbors Memory Care Unit in Stow, Ohio on Thursday, April 6, 2023. Paul was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Katherine H. Hawley (b. 1909 / d. 2010) and Donald E. Miller (b. 1906 / d. 1996), and spent most of his youth in Muncie, Indiana, graduating from Burris High School, and later from Purdue University (1958) with a Bachelor’s in Technical Writing.

He is survived by his children, Judy, Donald, Nancy, and Mary Miller; daughters-in-law, Leianne Heppner and Lynda Lobo; ex-wife, Jane Bremer; cousins, Jack & Dick Miller and Thom, David, John, and Robert Hawley; grandson, Clayton Kitchens, granddaughter-in-law, Kellynn Killips, and great grandchildren, Gideon and Sawyer Killips-Kitchens.

Paul’s professional career in technical writing started in New York at Sperry Gyroscope Company and brought him to Huebcore Publications in Solon, OH, where he worked for 31 years as an editor for Tooling & Production and later Metlfax trade magazines. He always maintained that he absolutely hated writing, and yet, that’s what he, brilliantly, built his career on.

Perhaps more important to Paul than his technical career were his hobbies. He was fascinated by electronics and built an electric car at the age of 12, in 1945. He went on to rewire Burris High School’s sound system and designed and recorded sound for the Lafayette Opera Guild, and later for the Cleveland Philharmonic Symphony and other musical groups on the East Side of Cleveland under his recording business, Soundtage Studios. He also started a radio station at Ball State in the early 50’s. He insists that David Letterman owes him for getting him started!

He loved photography and took, most likely, a zillion pictures of his favorite landscapes and portraits of beloved friends and family over a 50-year period. He blended his technical and creative sides by building and patenting several devices related to slide synchronization.

He was a talented musician and singer, playing percussion and piano by ear, with a beautiful baritone crooning voice that rivaled Perry Como. He lent those talents to many singing groups, including the Sperry Gyroscope Chorus, the Lafayette Opera Guild, the SELREC Singers, the Sentimental Swingtime, ’78 Limited, and Showstoppers; all groups whose lives he touched in numerous ways.

We think his only regret would have been that he never fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming “Dictator” and sharing his brilliant ideas and loving mantras with the world.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations in his name to be sent to any of the following: Ludington State Park https://friendsofludingtonstatepark.org/Donatetoday ,Cleveland Metroparks https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/support/donate ,Squire’s Castle Restoration Fund https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/support/donate/fund-information/squire-s-castle-restoration-fund , The Cleveland Philharmonic https://clevephil.org/ or Alzheimer’s Foundation https://alzfdn.org/?s=donations .

Calling Hours will be held Sunday, April 23 from 1-3PM at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Fairlawn, OH 44333, with a Memorial Service to follow at 3PM. Private Inurnment will take place later in Ludington, MI, his final resting spot, next to his parents.

Services in care of The Billow Funeral Homes & Crematory, Fairlawn Chapel, 85 N Miller Road  Akron, OH  44333.