Joseph Pearce Miller, Jr., 87, of Junction City, Kansas, crossed over to his next life on February 13, 2025. Cremation has taken place and a private memorial service may be scheduled at a later date.
He was born June 7, 1937 in Dover, Delaware, the second of two boys. His parents were Mary R. (Oliphant) Miller and Joseph P. Miller, Sr.
Joseph graduated from Dover High School in Dover, Delaware in 1955. He received an A.B. degree in 1959 from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and then attend the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he earned a Masters in Social Work with honors in 1961. He then received a Ph.D. in social work in 1974 from the same university.
Dr. Miller married Joan Bowler in 1959 in Dover, Delaware, and they divorced many years later. They had a son and a daughter. He then married Rebecca M. Clouse on September 29, 1984 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They had no children together but Rebecca adopted his daughter in June of 2013.
He was employed as a social worker at the Summit County Receiving Hospital in Cuyahoga Fall, Ohio, post-masters degree. While serving as a First Lieutenant in the United State Air Force from 1962-1965, Dr. Miller was the Chief Psychiatric Social Worker at the Neuropsychiatric Clinic in Tachakawa, Japan. Several years later, he was discharged from the inactive reserves at the rank of Captain. During the next 18 years, he became a full professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. During that time, he also had a private clinical practice. After marrying in Oklahoma, he moved to New Castle, Indiana, and was employed as an outpatient therapist and certified alcohol/drug counselor at Comprehensive Mental Health Services and taught courses at Indiana University. In 1989, he moved to Junction City, Kansas, where he was an outpatient therapist and certified alcohol/drug counselor at Pawnee Mental Health Services until he retired in 2003.
Dr. Miller discovered his acting talent at Junction City Little Theatre in 1994 and performed in numerous productions over many years. A man of many talents, he created collages which were on exhibit at the Junction City Arts Council Gallery in 2008. During retirement, he was involved in may volunteer activities including Hospice Services, the Bramlage Public Library homebound services, and the Geary Community Hospital Auxiliary. Dr. Miller sat on the Board of Directors for C.A.S.A., Geary County Chapter of the American Red Cross, Junction City Little Theatre, Junction City Little Theatre Foundation, Junction City Arts Council, and Friends of the Library. He was also a member of the Junction City Human Relations Commission for several years.
Membership in professional organizations included the National Association of Social Workers, Academy of Certified Social Workers, Council on Social Work Education, National Council on Family Relations, Planned Parenthood and World Population, American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, and Michigan Association for Emotionally Disturbed Children. Over the course of his career, he received a number of awards and professional recognition at state and national levels.
Joseph was preceded by his mother in 1974; his only brother Edsel L. Miller in 1995, and his father in 2005.