George Fuller Miller Sr.

George Fuller Miller Sr. (born March 19, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was a long-time Boy Scouts of America executive, the recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and a founding father of the American Humanics Foundation.

George Fuller Miller, Sr.
Born(1903-03-18)March 18, 1903
Indianapolis, Indiana
EducationColorado State Agriculture College
OccupationNon-profit Executive
Spouse(s)Margaret (Peggy) McBride

Early life and education

Miller was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 18, 1903[1] to parents Charles Frederick Miller and Gertrude Fuller Miller. In 1915, he joined the Boy Scouts of America and eventually earned the Eagle Scout Award.[1] At age 12, after his parents separated, he lived in various cities in the Western United States, including Denver, Colorado [2][3][4]

From 1919 to 1923, he attended Colorado State Agriculture College at Fort Collins, Colorado where he was enrolled as an agriculture technical vocational student.[5] Miller was on the staff of the school newspaper, The Hornet, where he served one year as business manager and one year as editor-in-chief.

In summer 1926, while attending a Scout conference on Coronado Island, California, Miller met his future wife, Margaret (Peggy) McBride. They married in Hollywood, California, on December 18, 1926.

Scouting career
Boy Scouts dedicate Cabeza Prieta NWR, 1939

Miller had joined the Boy Scouts in 1915, and received his Eagle Scout award in 1922[6] and is a Distinguished Eagle Scout[6] In 1923 he obtained his first position related to Scouting, as Recreation Director for the United Verde Copper Company, with a primary responsibility being to organize Scouting in the area.[7] He was appointed Deputy Field Commissioner of Yavapai-Mohave Council in August 1924[8] and he organized Scout troops in the Verde Valley using a book called Community Boy Leadership as his guide. He became a professional employee of the Boy Scouts of America, in 1925 as Deputy Regional Executive for Region XII. He became Scout Executive in Marysville, California in 1926. In the fall of 1927 he transferred to Region IV of the Boy Scouts of America. His job was to organize new councils in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia.[3]

In 1928 he became the Scout Executive of the Roosevelt Council in Phoenix, Arizona.[9] When Miller arrived there were six troops and 389 Scouts in the Roosevelt Council.[10] He served as Scout Executive for 40 years. By the time of his retirement in 1968, the council had grown to 846 units and more than 27,000 Scouters.[11] During those 40 years, more than 178,000 boys were involved in scouting in the Roosevelt Council.[10]

In 1936, Miller worked with Frederick Russell Burnham, a cofounder of Scouting, on a statewide campaign to save the Desert Bighorn Sheep from probable extinction. Several other prominent Arizonans and wildlife conversation societies joined the movement and a save the bighorns poster contest was started in schools throughout the state. The contest-winning bighorn emblem was made up into neckerchief slides for the 10,000 Boy Scouts, and talks and dramatizations were given at school assemblies and on radio, and the Desert Bighorn Sheep became the official mascot for the Arizona Boy Scouts. These efforts culminated in the establishment in 1939 of two Bighorn game ranges in Arizona: Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.[12]

Another of Miller's achievements was the building of the Heard Scout Pueblo at the base of South Mountain land donated by Dwight B. Heard.[10] He subsequently supervised the building of Camp Geronimo on Tonto Creek in the early 1930s, three Scout ranches east of Payson, Arizona in the 1940s, and the Scouting Center in Phoenix, which was completed in 1950.[1][10] In 1955 he moved the old Camp Geronimo facility to a larger site at the Spade Ranch on Webber Creek near Pine, Arizona.

Civic activities

In Maricopa County, he was a member of Citizens' Task Force on Crime in 1963 and a member of the Crime Commission.[13] He served as Director of Community Resources for the Samaritan Health Service from 1968 to 1971.[13] He was a member of the Phoenix City Council elected in 1969 and serving from 1970 to 1971.[13]

Miller was a Rotarian for 50 years and was president of the Phoenix 100 Rotary Club from 1949-1950.[14] Miller, along with H. Roe Bartle, was one of the founding fathers of the American Humanics Foundation and he served on the first Board of Directors.[15] In 1980, the Phoenix 100 Rotary Club provided funds to establish the American Humanics program at Arizona State University. In Miller's honor, the George F. Miller Chapter of the American Humanics was formed at ASU.[16]

Miller was instrumental in founding and development of Arizona Boys Ranch, dedicated in 1952, to provide a home to troubled youth. The Ranch was dedicated in 1952.[17]

He wrote a weekly column for the Phoenix Gazette from April 1964 to April 1968.

Honors

See also

References
  1. American Biographical Encyclopedia, AZ Edition, Vol. 1, 1967
  2. Arizona Republic, June 25, 1980. Article by Howard Pyle, "Chief" Miller was a Man Amongst Us
  3. Interview with George Miller, recorded by Roger Hart, 1979
  4. Arizona's Men of Achievement, Vol. I, 1958, page 118
  5. Colorado State University, Registrar's Office, Division of Enrollment
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2013-03-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. The Chief's Wagon, April 1968. Special Edition of The Chuck Wagon, a publication of the Theodore Roosevelt Council, BSA, page 1
  8. Prescott Evening Courier, May 21, 1956 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=897&dat=19560521&id=mfMKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=508DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3737,6404441
  9. Scouting in Arizona; the Roosevelt Council became the Theodore Roosevelt Council and in 1993 was merged and renamed Grand Canyon Council.
  10. The Chief's Wagon, April 1968. Special Edition of The Chuck Wagon, a publication of the Theodore Roosevelt Council, BSA, page 2
  11. Historical Highlights 1921 - 1996, Growth and History of the Grand Canyon Council, 1968
  12. Edward H. Saxton (March 1978). "Saving the Desert Bighorns". Desert Magazine. 41 (3). Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  13. George F. Miller, Autobiography, 1972
  14. George F. Miller Biography, January 1954, Compiled by Catherine King, Secretary Roosevelt Council, BSA
  15. American Humanics Certificate of Appreciation, September 6, 1959
  16. John W. Schwada, President, Arizona State University - Letter dated June 20, 1980
  17. Arizona Boys Ranch Newsletter, Volume 30, No.2, Fall/Winter 1980, pages 1, 2, and 4
  18. Arizona Republic, May 27, 1965
  19. "Past Honorary Degree Recipients". 5 February 2009.
  20. Arizona Republic, February 4, 1966
  21. Phoenix Gazette, September 20, 1980
  22. http://honkachina.org/
  23. Arizona Republic, November, 1980
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