Daily Record News - = Rockaway couple helps preserve borough history

=0A= =0A=
09/29/02 = - Posted=20 8:04:18 PM from the Daily Record newsroom=20

Robyn Craig /=20 Special to the Daily Record
Ed and Joan = Miller are=20 active members of the Rockaway Borough = Historical=20 Committee. They will soon celebrate their 50th=20 = anniversary.

Rockaway couple helps preserve borough = history

Members of group that restored WWII honor=20 roll
By Sally Capone, Special to the Daily = Record

ROCKAWAY - The adage, "If you need a job done, give = it to a=20 busy man," could apply to Ed Miller, president of the = Rockaway=20 Borough Historical Committee.

Even Miller admits: "I don't quit until it's = finished."=20

When a member of the Rockaway Borough Super Seniors = mentioned that the Historical Committee of the = Rockaways never=20 seemed to get involved with the borough, Miller and = his wife,=20 Joan, were among the 12 who formed the borough = committee in=20 1998.

And when committee members discovered that most of = the=20 World War II Honor Roll that once stood on the grounds = of the=20 Borough Library had been taken down by the American = Legion,=20 Miller led the project to erect a new memorial.

Four years later, after he helped raise $7,000, a = new Honor=20 Roll was rededicated on the library grounds on = Memorial Day=20 this year.

"Gung-ho" is how Pat Giannetti, treasurer of the = committee,=20 describes Miller.

"I've known him for about eight or nine years. He's = very=20 thorough as far as our endeavors (in the committee). = He has=20 ideas and he follows them through."

Since retiring in 1986 from Picatinny Arsenal in = Rockaway=20 Township where he was involved in the development of = explosive=20 devices, Miller's list of activities could tire those = far=20 younger than him.

Not that he was inactive before retirement.=20

Along with his wife, with whom Miller will = celebrate 50=20 years of marriage in November, Miller joined the = Rockaway=20 Borough Super Seniors in 1991 and was president in = 1992 and=20 1993.

He's still a member of the executive committee.

In 1999, he joined the United Methodist Church in = Rockaway,=20 and he was appointed secretary of the administrative = board in=20 2000.

He is also a member of American Legion Post 175 and = has=20 been a member of the Rockaway Borough Fire Department = for 10=20 years.=20

Chance meeting

The Millers have lived in the same house on = Birchwood Road=20 since 1955, although it became considerably larger = with the=20 growth of their family.

They had two sons, Robert and Peter. Robert was = killed by a=20 drunken driver in 1987. Peter lives in Rockaway = Township with=20 his wife and daughter in the home built and owned by = Joan=20 Miller's parents. The Millers have four grandchildren.

Ed Miller is a native of Warren, and Joan Miller is = from=20 Rockaway Township.

They met, as the couple said, "on the street."

While on leave for a family funeral from his Air = Force job=20 as a senior statistical specialist at the Pentagon, Ed = was=20 riding around Hackettstown with his cousin when they = spotted=20 three girls and offered them a ride back to Dover.

Joan Miller soon informed her parents that she had = met the=20 man she was going to marry.

They wrote letters every day for a year. "I still = have=20 those letters," Joan Miller said.=20

A month after their marriage, Ed Miller started = working at=20 Picatinny. Among other projects during his 33=BD years = at the=20 arsenal, he was part of a special team that developed=20 anti-intrusion devices and anti-personnel mines used = against=20 the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.=20

Before he retired, Miller was involved in Little = League and=20 Cub Scouts, and he served as an auxiliary and special = cop in=20 the borough for about 15 years.=20

When Joan Miller's family, the Keplers, were = planning a=20 reunion, Ed Miller chaired a committee to organize the = affair.=20 No small task, with more than 400 invitations issued.=20

Even though he admits he does "get involved in too = much,"=20 Miller has his eye on new projects for the Historical=20 Committee, which meets the fourth Friday of each month = at the=20 Community Center.

He would like to restore the clock atop the old = Liondale=20 Plant behind Sacred Heart School.

"We're proud of what we've done and what we'll do. = I've=20 always been interested in getting things done. I won't = quit=20 until it's finished," Miller said.=20

Jean Rueter, vice president of the committee, said, = "Ed is=20 definitely someone who, when he makes up his mind to = do=20 something, he does it. He's active in the Methodist = church and=20 was successful in its Gertrude Hawk sales."

Since Miller retired, he and his wife have traveled = considerably, but Joan Miller has refused to travel by = plane=20 since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"That's OK," Ed said, "I enjoy driving."=20

Sally Capone can be reached at (973)=20 428-6650.

=0A= =0A=

Gannett = Home | Gannett Foundation | Gannett=20 Newspapers=20

3D"USA

3DGannett=20

Copyright 2005 = Daily=20 Record.
Use of this site signifies your = agreement to=20 the Terms=20 of Service (updated = 12/27/2002)

TOP=20 NEWS

LOCAL
=95 Error = processing SSI=20 file
=95 Error processing SSI=20 file
=95 Error processing SSI=20 file
MORE =BB=20

BUSINESS
=95=20 Convenien= ce=20 vs. traffic
=95 In= come=20 funds differ widely
=95 NJ=20 Pets: Family business running with big=20 dogs
MORE=20 =BB=20

SPORTS
=95=20 Peq= uannock=92s=20 run for title glory over
=95 Brown=20 sits down with Williams
=95 Critics,= =20 fans look to post-Lance era
MORE=20 =BB=20

TECHNOLOGY
MORE=20 =BB=20 =