Sad news of a fatal home invasion out of Goshen, Indiana this weekend of slain College Professor, James Miller. Goshen College is a private Christian college affiliated with the historically peaceful Mennonite Church. Despite their pacifist beliefs and non-violent values, burglars make no exceptions for their victim’s personal convictions. This community is suffering deeply right now because of a senseless death. Our thoughts and prayers are with Linda Miller and their family.
James Miller
GOSHEN, Ind. — Several hundred people gathered in the flickering glow of candlelight to honor a northern Indiana college professor who police said was killed over the weekend during a home invasion.
The vigil Sunday night outside Goshen College’s science building took place just hours after students and fellow faculty members learned about an attack on biology professor James Miller, 58, that also seriously injured his wife.
Goshen police made no immediate arrests in the early Sunday attack and said the investigation was continuing.
Neighbor Sanford Lehman told the South Bend Tribune he heard calls for help and the Miller’s dog barking just before police arrived.
Miller had taught at Goshen College for 30 years, ABC 57 in South Bend reported, and students were devastated by his death.
“Words cannot adequately convey our grief over the enormity of this tragedy,” Goshen College President James Brenneman said in an email to students and faculty.
UPDATE:
James Brenneman, President Goshen College
It is with profound sadness that I inform you of the death this morning of Professor James S. Miller, 58, a professor of biology at Goshen College since 1980.
Words cannot adequately convey our grief over the enormity of this tragedy. We offer our prayers and support to the Miller and Jeschke families and we ask that you please keep them in your prayers. We also will be holding in our prayers Professor Miller’s students, colleagues, friends and alumni.
In the coming hours we will pass along any information we receive about arrangements. We also will be contacting Professor Miller’s students about arrangements being made for his classes.
At 8 p.m. tonight, there will be a brief time of prayer and reflection for the campus community outside the south entrance to the Science Building to give all an opportunity to grieve and to pray for our brother and friend.”
Professor James Steven Miller came to Goshen College to teach in 1980, the same year he completed his doctorate degree in medical biochemistry at Ohio State University. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1975 from Bluffton (Ohio) University. The Goshen College Board of Directors granted Professor Miller tenure in June 1985. He primarily taught upper-level courses taken by students in nursing, pre-medical and other health-related tracks.
Professor Miller is survived by his wife, Linda, three children, his mother and other family members.
We do understand that this tragedy will be of interest to the news media as well as other members of this community. However, we hope that the news media will respect the privacy of the family and our campus community for the next few days.
UPDATE: Since his tragic death, a candlelight vigil and convocation on campus and visitations and two church services have helped students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends cope with the tragic death and given them a deeper appreciation for Professor Miller’s many contributions to Goshen College.
GOSHEN, Ind. — Members of the Goshen College community reacted with shock, disbelief and sorrow when they learned about the homicide of Professor of Biology James S. Miller. Since then, a candlelight vigil and convocation on campus and visitations and two church services have helped students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends cope with the tragic death and given them a deeper appreciation for Professor Miller’s many contributions to Goshen College.
The Goshen Police Department reported that Professor Miller, 58, was killed during a home invasion robbery at his home about 1 a.m. on Oct. 9. Linda Miller, Professor Miller’s wife, was wounded in the attack and was hospitalized for five days. She continues to recover.
While police spent countless hours investigating the case, family, friends and members of the college community gathered six times over nine days following the homicide to praise God, pray for the Miller family and to remember Professor Miller’s 31 years of service to the college.
At the most recent gathering, two hours after his burial on Oct. 17, nearly 900 people crowded into Clinton Frame Mennonite Church in Goshen for a memorial service led by Terry Diener, lead pastor at the church. Two of Professor Miller’s children played a duet on flute and piano while his brother and sister offered recollections of their childhood with Professor Miller.
President James E. Brenneman offered condolences to Linda Miller, and their children, Lisa Rose Martin and Leanne and Robert Miller. In a moving tribute, the president said that Professor Miller understood better than most the Scripture’s claim that “If one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part experiences joy, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
“We not only suffer with you in your loss, we extend to you our deepest heartfelt sympathies, our ceaseless prayers and abiding support. We, along with you, will lose parts of Jim in bits and pieces for a long, long time to come. The body is broken,” Brenneman said.
“We also rejoice with you in the human, loving, thoughtful, fallible, quirky, gift that was Jim’s person. We are thankful that in major research facilities and makeshift medical hovels, at countless bedsides, in operating rooms and drop-in clinics all across the globe and right across the street, thousands are being tended to, cared for, blessed and will be so for years to come by those taught by Dr. Jim Miller,” Brenneman said. “Jim was passionately driven to keeping Goshen College among the top colleges and universities in the nation for getting pre-med students into medical school. He wanted our future nurses, our budding research scientists and physicians to be among the best in the world, as they are.”
Goshen College President Jim Brenneman speaks to the campus community on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011 when they gathered for a convocation in the Church-Chapel for a time of prayer, singing and storytelling to remember James Miller.
Goshen College President Jim Brenneman speaks to the campus community on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011 when they gathered for a convocation in the Church-Chapel for a time of prayer, singing and storytelling to remember James Miller.
Brenneman described Professor Miller as a man of faith who was dedicated to science, fascinated by the human body and committed to helping his students. To better connect with students, Professor Miller told jokes and puns, faithfully attended campus athletic events, worked long hours and maintained an open-door policy. He also supported his faculty colleagues.
“Faculty members remember Jim as someone who would go the second mile for his students, giving retakes on exams, coming back to the office on Sundays to help a student prepare for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). He was someone to emulate in his availability and the number of student scholars he mentored,” Brenneman said. “He reached out to new faculty time and time again to make them feel at home at Goshen College.”
President Brenneman also recalled Professor Miller’s pride in Robert and Leanne, who are members of the Goshen High School band. The entire Crimson Marching Band attended the memorial service and played three hymns, which drew tears from some people.
Brenneman ended his remarks by returning to the theme of the body, saying, “We are, along with you, part of what Scripture calls ‘the body of Christ.’ Like the human body, such a body with its spiritual DNA is a miracle to behold, able to decode beauty, experience joy, bear pain, and generate healing.
“On behalf of all of us at Goshen College, I pray that each one of us — touched as we were by the life of Professor Jim — will discover here on earth what he now knows in heaven. Discover that wondrous new and living body that is now his forever and ever. So, as Leanne has taught us with such poise on the performance field, here’s to you, Jim,” Brenneman said as he raised his head and right arm and blew a gentle kiss toward heaven.
Over 450 people gathered outside Goshen College's Science Building and Schrock Annex to mourn the loss of James Miller, professor of biology, in a candle lit prayer vigil on Sunday, Oct. 9 after his tragic death early that morning.
Over 450 people gathered outside Goshen College’s Science Building and Schrock Annex to mourn the loss of James Miller, professor of biology, in a candle lit prayer vigil on Sunday, Oct. 9 after his tragic death early that morning.
Less than 19 hours after Professor Miller died, President Brenneman and Campus Pastor Bob Yoder led an equally emotional candlelight vigil on campus, which was attended by nearly 500 people. The crowd gathered beside the south entrance of the Science Building and heard words of comfort and sorrow from Brenneman and Yoder. Many people prayed, cried and sang hymns.
The next morning, President Brenneman led a convocation to remember Professor Miller. The convocation began with the lighting of an oil lamp while the president said: “We light this lamp in prayer, remembrance and recognition of the life and light of Christ and his servant Professor Jim Miller. In so doing, we are reminded that light overcomes all darkness, love overcomes all hate, and life overcomes even death itself.”
In between hymns and periods of silence, students, faculty and staff members offered brief comments about Professor Miller, which evoked tears as well as laughter. Throughout the week, sorrow, joy and gratitude were common emotions expressed as students and colleagues coped with Professor Miller’s death and recalled his legacy amid extensive news media coverage.
Meanwhile, administrators kept the campus community informed about the status of the homicide investigation and encouraged students and employees to keep safety foremost on their minds. The Goshen Police Department provided extra patrols around campus and adjacent neighborhoods.
In the following days, prayers for the Miller family as well as for friends, students and colleagues were offered both on campus as well as during a prayer service at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church on Oct. 12 and during two periods of visitation at the church on Oct. 16. Professor Miller’s life was celebrated in displays of photos, documents, personal items and written reflections at the visitations and the memorial service.
Clinton Frame Pastor Terry Diener gave a call to worship to the nearly 900 people who gathered at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church on Monday, Oct. 17 for a memorial service for James Miller.
Clinton Frame Pastor Terry Diener gave a call to worship to the nearly 900 people who gathered at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church on Monday, Oct. 17 for a memorial service for James Miller.
James Steven Miller was born Aug. 6, 1953, in Millersburg, Ohio, to Oscar Miller and Elizabeth (Bixel) Miller. He grew up in Berlin, Ohio, and graduated in 1971 from Hiland High School, where he was valedictorian. He also was a member of the National Honor Society, the Science Club, the Quiz Team and the yearbook staff and was the statistician for the basketball team.
He graduated summa cum laude from Bluffton University in 1975 with a B.S. degree in chemistry. He was a C. Henry Smith Fellow, a member of the Academic Policies and Services Committee and secretary of the Investment Club. During summers, he did factory work at Berlin Wood Products.
He completed his doctorate degree in physiological chemistry (now known as medical biochemistry) at Ohio State University in 1980. His research interests included lipids, prostaglandins, platelets, tissue culture, atherosclerosis and nutrition. At Ohio State, his work experience included serving as a graduate research assistant, a computer programmer and a laboratory assistant.
He came to Goshen College to teach in 1980. The Goshen College Board of Directors granted him tenure as associate professor of biology in June 1985. He primarily taught upper-level courses taken by students in health-related tracks. He taught pre-med students, counseled them about medical school applications and wrote many references for students resulting in admission to medical schools. He also was chair of the Pre-Med Committee and adviser to the Pre-Med Club and supervised Maple Scholar researchers in the summer and numerous lab assistants.
As department chair, he was chief spokesperson for the Biology Department on the committee for the renovation of the Science Building. He took the lead in selecting and purchasing new lab equipment for measuring metabolic rates of individuals and supervised other faculty in learning to use this equipment. His “Fetal Pig Dissection Guide, Including Sheep Heart, Brain and Eye,” which was copyright in 1993-1994, is still used as a major resource in this area.
Professor Miller was known as a serious and dedicated academician and researcher. Family members and colleagues say he loved computers and applied a rigorous scientific approach to much of what he did — from teaching and administering tests to researching ways to ease his chronic back pain and improving his sense of humor.
After noting that some students gave him low marks for his sense of humor, he set about to change that. He collected jokes, eventually compiling an extensive database of jokes and puns, and practiced his delivery by telling jokes to family members. When he was off campus and an administrative assistant was assigned to administer a test in his absence, he would leave a joke to be delivered to students his behalf. Eventually, student evaluations confirmed an increase in his humor scores.
“Professor Miller was highly respected by students for his knowledge of the content he taught and for his understanding of current developments in the biological sciences,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean Anita Stalter.”His classes were difficult but as one student noted, ‘Dr. Miller does a good job of relating course material to real-life situations and problems, which helps to keep students focused and interested.’
“Jim cared deeply about student learning and often worked with students outside of class who needed additional instruction. He will be missed at Goshen College as a teacher and colleague,”
Ryan Sensenig, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, said Professor Miller’s death has left a void in the Biology Department that will not be easily filled. In the short term, however, retired and adjunct faculty will teach Professor Miller’s students for the rest of the fall semester.
Professor Miller was an active participant at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, and before that College Mennonite Church. He was an avid member of the Millersburg Radio Control Modelers (airplane) Club.
He married Linda Suderman July 7, 1991, in Fresno, Calif. She survives.
Also surviving are two daughters: Lisa Rose (Jeff) Martin, and Leanne Miller, both of Goshen; a son, Robert Miller, Goshen; a grandson, Jared Martin; and his mother, Elizabeth (Marlin) Jeschke, Goshen; a sister, Kathy (Willard) Fenton-Miller, Marcellus, Mich.; and a brother, Tom (Crystal) Miller, Portland, Ore. Professor Miller was preceded in death by his father, Oscar Miller.
—Written by Richard R. Aguirre
