Grace Ann Fogle Miller

Miller—Grace Ann Fogle Miller, 80, on January 3, 2024, in the memory care neighborhood at Foxdale Village, a Quaker-founded retirement community in State College, Pa., where she had been lovingly cared for since February 2020.

Grace was born on July 12, 1943, to the Reverend Maurice and Elizabeth Fogle in Wheeling, W.V., the fourth of their five children. She was raised in Dayton and Elyria, Ohio, and earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Grace married her college sweetheart, Douglas Miller, on June 6, 1964, in Des Moines, and began her teaching career in Bloomington, Ind., while Doug was pursuing doctoral studies. Grace began studies for her master’s degree at Indiana University at that time and finished her degree while her children were very young. After three years in Bloomington, Doug took a one-year appointment in Gorham, Maine, where their son, David, joined the family in 1969. The following year Kristin completed their family after they moved to State College, Pa.

Once her children were in school, Grace worked to resume her teaching career. She took positions as a secretary and as a teacher’s aide in the school district. Eventually Grace was rewarded with a ninth-grade English classroom of her own. In addition to teaching English, she created the curriculum to establish classes in journalism, and with her students initiated the State College Area High School newspaper (called Lions’ Digest), for which she served as advisor for more than a decade. During her 20-year career teaching English at State College High School, Grace was dedicated to ninth graders, as they blossomed from incoming high schoolers into confident young people.

In 1986, Grace and Doug moved to a home they built on a hilltop in the Bald Eagle Valley. Their collection of animals expanded from cats and dogs to horses and peacocks at this country retreat. After retirement in 2006, they moved to be nearer to their daughter, Kristin, her husband, and two young children at Kris’s family’s vineyard/winery in York County, Pa. They enjoyed helping the family and the winery for 12 years before moving back to State College, settling in Foxdale Village in 2018.

Grace and Doug joined State College Meeting soon after their arrival, and it wasn’t long before Grace was clerk of the Religious Education Committee, a position she held for many years. In addition, Grace served on the Literature Committee and for many years was recorder.

Grace is survived by her husband, Doug Miller; two children, David Miller (Lisa Bebey) and Kris Miller (Carl Helrich); three grandchildren; and four siblings and their families.