Leroy Thomas Miller

Leroy Thomas Miller, 93, of Charleston, SC, passed away on Sunday, June 14, 2015. He was born on Friday, October 28, 1921 in Charleston, SC, a son of Annie Rantin Miller and Harry Miller. Leroy graduated from Charleston High School in 1940. He was employed by Charleston Naval Shipyard from 1940 to 1972. He was a retired General Foreman II of Pipe and Copper Shop, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and Lt. Colonel Washington Light Infantry Battallion. He was head of the maintenance department at MUSC. Leroy was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, where he volunteered as a lay reader, Eucharistic minister, and sang in the choir. He was a member of Charleston Elks Lodge 242 and the Lions Club. Leroy was a Charleston High School stand-out athlete in baseball (catcher) and football (end). He was also a stand-out minor league baseball player in Charleston, SC. He was considered one of the top two baseball players in the city of Charleston during the 1940’s. He played baseball and football for the US Army while stationed in Japan. After the war, he played in local fast pitch softball leagues until the age of 80, when he tore his rotator cuff while chasing a fly ball in the rain while playing for the “Young at Heart” slow pitch team. He bowled three times a week and was a runner. He began running the Cooper River Bridge Run at the age of 80, following bypass surgery, and only missed one run since he started. In 2014, he became the oldest male to ever cross the finish line, and in 2015, he repeated that record. His great-great granddaughter was born the day that he finished what would be his last bridge run. Leroy was a Christian, a brother, a husband, a father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather. He was a very generous man who gave to many. He never passed a person in need on a street corner, never judging whether they were truly in need or not, because he didn’t want to take the chance of being wrong and miss the opportunity to be a blessing to another. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his childhood sweetheart and wife of 41 years, Dorothy Thackeray Miller (1982); his loving wife of 23 years, Peggie Peek Miller (2009); his sister, Elizabeth Miller Bentley and brothers: Herbert Miller, Horace “Shine” Miller and Ernest Miller. Leroy is survived by his loving wife of three years, Gwendolyn Hemphill Miller of North Charleston, SC; two sons, Robert “Bobby” Miller of North Charleston, SC and Larry Miller and his wife, Sharon, of Charleston, SC; brother, Ralph Miller of James Island, SC; sister, Ellen Fralix of Charleston, SC; granddaughters: Tracy Miller of Hanahan, SC and Lorrie Miller Ferguson of Moncks Corner, SC; stepson, Alan Peek and his wife, Carla, of Lexington, SC; granddaughter, Devon Peek and grandsons: Craig, Eric and Chris Peek. The family will receive friends on Thursday, June 18, 2015, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at McAlister-Smith Funeral Home West Ashley Chapel. A funeral service will be held at 3:00 PM, on Friday, June 19, 2015, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1150 E. Montague Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405, with The Rev. Dr. James E. Taylor officiating. Burial will follow in the Live Oak Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1150 E. Montague Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405 or the Alzheimer’s Association, 2090 Executive Hall Road, Charleston, SC 29407. Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.mcalister-smith.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to McALISTER-SMITH FUNERAL HOME WEST ASHLEY CHAPEL, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, 843-722-8371.

Visitation:
Thursday, June 18, 2015