Loye W. Miller Jr.'s Obituary
Loye Wheat Miller Jr., formerly of West Lebanon, NH and Washington, DC, passed away peacefully at Lofland Park Center in Seaford, DE on February 17, 2023.
Loye was born on March 20, 1930, in Knoxville, TN, the eldest son of Loye Wheat Miller Sr. and Sara Vance (Davis) Miller. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1951 from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH and a master’s degree in journalism in 1952 from Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York City. Following his graduation from Columbia, he served in the United States Naval Reserve (1952-1955) where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade).
Loye’s first newspaper job was at the Charlotte (NC) Observer from 1955-1959. He was appointed assistant city editor of that paper in 1959. During these years he also was a local correspondent for Time and Life magazines and was subsequently offered a position by those publications in Washington, DC, where he was placed in the White House Press Corps. He served as Time’s Washington bureau correspondent (1959-1964), covering many of the presidential events and campaigns of the 1960s, including the beginning and end of the Kennedy administration, Lyndon Johnson’s vice-presidency, Barry Goldwater’s run for the Republican nomination, and the anti-Vietnam War protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was chief of the Midwest news bureau of Time-Life magazines in Chicago from 1964-1969. In Washington, DC, he held several other top posts: Knight-Ridder Newspapers senior reporter (1970-1977); Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief (1977-1978); Gannett Newspapers Washington bureau correspondent (1978-1979) and Newhouse Newspapers chief political writer (1979-1985).
Loye was a member of the iconic Gridiron Club. Founded in 1885, the Gridiron Club is the oldest and among the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, DC. In 1985, he was photographed by Michael Evans, personal photographer to President Ronald Reagan for a book titled, “People and Power: Portraits from the Federal Village,” which included influential people related to the Reagan White House. His photograph was on view in a 1985 exhibition of the same title at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Following Loye’s departure from the journalism world, he had a successful second career in public affairs and corporate communications. He was director of public affairs in the U.S. Department of Education under Secretary William Bennett (1985-1988); director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice under Secretary Richard Thornburgh (1988-1989); and director of public information for Northrop Grumman Corporation, Arlington, VA (1989-1994). He retired in 1994.
In 2001 he left Washington, DC and moved to West Lebanon, NH, where he had built his retirement home. He soon acquired a Maine Coon cat and a Norwegian Forest cat, naming them Silas and Haig. He continued to enjoy tennis, skiing, hiking, attending Dartmouth hockey games and, especially, holidays where he would entertain his family for hours around the dinner table with stories drawn from a life well lived.
His passion for fly-fishing began early in life at his family’s vacation home at Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. It was a hobby that provided him with a source of great joy throughout his life and complemented his love for the outdoors, which also began early in life with his attainment of the rank of Eagle Scout. Loye traveled to many places to fly-fish, including Alaska, Newfoundland and Labrador, and even to northern Russia. When he moved to New Hampshire he sought out and became a member and was, for a time, board treasurer of The Meccawe Club, a 120-year-old trout fishing club in Reading, VT, where he spent many happy days fly-fishing for rainbow, brook and brown trout — many of them trophy-size — that swam in the Club’s nine-plus acre pond.
Loye had a lifelong love of Dartmouth College and the Class of ’51 and served the College and his class in many ways over the years. He was Class Newsletter Editor (1951-1957); Dartmouth Club President (1956-1959); Class Agent, Class Secretary and Class Mini-Reunion Chairman (many times); Leadership Fundraiser (1998-2001); served on the Editorial Board of the Alumni Magazine (1999-2001); and was the 1951/52 Alumni Council Representative (2004). In 2004, Loye received the “Spirit of ’51 Award” from his Dartmouth classmates for his “abiding convictions of career, of College, of Class, and of life in general.”
Loye is survived by his children Lissa (Larry) Thompson (Lake Oswego, OR) and Loye (Elizabeth) Miller III (Rehoboth Beach, DE); granddaughter Kate Thompson (Portland, OR); brothers Wayne Miller (Leawood, KS) and Michael (Pamela) Miller (Durham, NC); sister-in-law Carolyn Miller (Austin, TX); nephew Bryan Miller (Leawood, KS); nieces Pamela Wayne Miller (Frisco, TX), Gretchen (Dave) Coie (Asheville, NC), Laurel (Tom Catmull) Miller, Missoula, MT and Kimberly Stromenger (Camilla) Turner of Nesoddtangen, Norway; and great-nephew Drake Oneil Miller, Frisco, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister-in-law Martha (Wayne) Miller (Leawood, KS).
A memorial service will be held at Rose Mortuary (6200 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919) on Wednesday, March 8 at 1 p.m. with interment at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, Knoxville, TN 37919. Flowers are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Mayfly Project, a national nonprofit organization that uses fly-fishing as a catalyst to mentor children in foster care. Donate at https://themayflyproject.com/donate/.
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