‘Ev’ Miller outwitted city’s civic pessimists
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 18, 2004
EVERETT – Everett Edson Miller used his life to draw a circle around the community.
When he completed his circle on Oct. 15, after 87 years, he managed to exclude no one but draw many people in, said his family and friends.
He had a favorite poem, “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham, that his children say best explains his philosophy on life:
“He drew a circle that shut me out/Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout/But love and I had the wit to win/We drew a circle that took him in.”
“Bringing people into his circle – it made him successful in everything he did throughout his career,” said his son, David “Win” Miller.
Everett Miller, called “Ev” by those who knew him, is perhaps best known for his work as Everett YMCA chief executive from 1962 to 1982.
He was something of a financial wizard who managed to take the Y from an organization $80,000 in debt to one on the verge of significant growth.
He also led a fund-raising campaign in the late 1970s to raise $4.2 million to build the downtown Everett YMCA’s 1980 addition.
When Miller retired in 1981, he had planted the seeds for the Y to grow and achieve success across Snohomish County, said Jerry Beavers, president of the YMCA of Snohomish County. The Y now has six branches and serves 60,000 people a year.
“Ev was really quite a gentleman in every sense of the word,” Beavers said. “He was passionate about helping kids and families, and involved in church, Rotary and community development.”
In 1968, he founded and chaired the Drug Abuse Council, and also helped create its original telephone hotline for people emerging from drug abuse.
A former athlete, Miller stayed fit for most of his life. Every day he walked downtown to work and back from his home on Rucker Hill. When he decided the walk wasn’t enough, he started using his lunch hour to swim a mile. After retirement, he continued walking downtown to swim.
Miller taught health, science and physical education in Minnesota schools before joining the Navy. He spent much of his four years of service at a hospital helping rehabilitate soldiers injured at Pearl Harbor.
In 1946, following World War II, Miller got his first YMCA job as assistant physical director at the Minneapolis Y.
“He was very proud of his YMCA career,” his son said. “He lived and breathed it. The YMCA he believed in right down to the ‘C’ part – the Christian part.”
Miller was active his entire life not only in athletics, but in church and music. He paid his way through college by playing the trombone in a dance band, and sang with a professional barbershop quartet in North Dakota.
In Everett, Miller and his wife of 68 years, Dorothy, attended First United Methodist Church. There he was a lay leader and sang in the choir. He also sang with the Everett Gospel Mission’s men’s choir each Christmas.
Miller was a Rotarian, and volunteered to serve on various civic boards and committees, including the state Task Force on Juvenile Violence.
“He never took credit for things. He would give everybody else the credit,” said his daughter, Vicki Lynn Maxey of Everett. “We have found out so many things about him (after his death) that we didn’t even know about.”
Miller leaves his wife of 62 years, Dorothy; his daughter and son; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to YMCA of Snohomish County, 2720 Rockefeller Ave., Everett, WA 98201; First United Methodist Church, 3530 Colby Ave., Everett, WA 98201; Everett Rotary Youth Foundation, P.O. Box 1225, Everett, WA 98206; or Everett Gospel Mission, 3711 Smith St., Everett, WA 98201.
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@ heraldnet.com.
Memorial service
A memorial service for Everett Miller will be at 1 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church, 3530 Colby Ave., Everett.
