Mrs. Helen Willis Miller

COLUMBIA, S.C. Helen Elizabeth Willis Miller, 68, wife of Ben Neely Miller III, died February 19, 2015, of breast cancer. Originally from Hickory, North Carolina, Mrs. Miller was the daughter of the late Emmett Clive Willis, Jr. and Mary Elliott Henderson Willis Reber. She was the mother of Benjamin Neely Miller, IV and Mary Elizabeth Miller Drury. The mother-in-law of J. Spencer Drury and grandmother “Gran Gran” of Katherine Stewart Miller, Sarah Cathcart Miller, Ann Neely Miller, and Wyndell Benjamin Drury. Helen was always caring and enterprising. While in the second grade, she got polio and spent 10 months in a body cast at the Miller Clinic in Gastonia. The people of Hickory rallied behind her sending her cards and gifts for Christmas. She did not open any of the presents, but saved them for a surprise party for her entire ward later in March because the other children didn't get any presents, saying “I want to do something for them." When she was in 8th grade at College Park Junior High School, she wrote to the Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, inviting him to speak to her class. He came complete with a publicity staff. Suddenly she was in the national news on TV as the "little girl" who loved "Mr. Sam." The media showed them winking at each other before the speeches he gave both to her entire student body and then to the hundreds of people later that night who filled the Lenoir-Rhyne stadium. A graduate of Duke University with a Bachelors in Religion, Mrs. Miller was a member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, a past member of Duke University Alumni Boards and local interviewing committee, the Town Council of Arcadia Lakes for five years, and Mayor of the Town of Arcadia Lakes for eight years. A certified employment consultant, Mrs. Miller placed information technology candidates across the county for thirty years. She retired as owner and CEO of Placement Professionals, Inc. during the 1990's, but returned to work as a clerk at McDonald, McKenzie, Rubin, Miller and Lybrand, L.L.P. Mrs. Miller is survived by her husband, children and grandchildren; sister, Mary Hazel Abernethy; brother, Craig Elliott Willis; sister-in-laws, Betsy Miller Fuller, Jane Miller Setzer, Libby Laffon Willis, Sherry Willis Beard (David); brother-in-laws, Fred Setzer, William Ramsay Abernethy; step-brothers; step-sister; and many loved nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a brother, Emmett Clive Willis III; step-father, William Karl Reber; father-in-law, Dr. Benjamin Neely Miller, Jr.; and mother-in-law, Ruth Elizabeth Gambill Miller. A celebration of life will be conducted by her nephew, the Reverend Dr. Robert Ferguson Fuller, at Eastminster Presbyterian Church at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon Saturday, February 28, 2015. Burial services will be private. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.