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Cyril Miller, former vice president of Global Mission for the North American Division, passes away

Posted on Oct 16 2012

With great sadness, we share that Cyril Miller, former president of the Southwestern Union, passed away on October 13, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. "He was a man of keen insight, vision, and perception," says Buford Griffith, executive secretary of the Southwestern Union. "His love for people and the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ are just a few of the words I would use to describe God's servant."

Miller was born in Preston, Oklahoma, on February 10, 1928 and began his ministry as a pastor in the Oklahoma Conference in 1953. 

From 1957 to February 1959 he served as a pastor in the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference. In March of 1959 he joined the Southwestern Union staff as director of stewardship, religious liberty, and editor of the Record. In 1963 he moved to the Columbia Union, where he served as stewardship and religious liberty director, and in 1964 he became president of the Chesapeake Conference. 

In 1969 he returned to the Southwest, taking the position of secretary at the Southwestern Union. He served in that role until 1975 when he became president of the Texas Conference. In January 1986 he became president of the Southwestern Union and ten years later, he moved to the North American Division to serve as vice president for Global Mission and director of the Jewish and Muslim work until his retirement in 2001. 

He is survived by his wife, Joyce; a daughter, Janet; a son, William; a sister, Marjorie Wallace; and three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marian Dailey, and a brother, Griffith "Bob" Miller, M.D.  

A memorial service for Cyril Miller will be held at the Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church in Keene, Texas, on October 20, 2012 at 4 p.m. Condolences can be sent to the Miller family at 1904 Thousand Oaks Dr., Burleson, TX 76028. Contributions in Cyril Miller's honor can be made to the ministerial scholarship at Southwestern Adventist University, P.O. Box 567, Keene, TX 76059. E-mail correspondence can be sent to Janet Miller at jmiller@swuc.org.

"Cyril was a wonderful visionary and under his leadership the church grew phenomenally. We have lost a great leader and he will be greatly missed," said Larry Moore, Southwestern Union president. 

Cyril Miller was a great blessing to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and to those who knew him, and we look forward to reuniting with him when Jesus returns.