Thomas Robert Miller, age 76, passed away peacefully at University of Iowa Hospital on Friday, December 5, 2025, after suffering a stroke ten days earlier. He was lovingly attended by his extended family during his last days.
Thomas was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December 31, 1948, the eldest child of Robert and Betty Miller. Four siblings followed. Even as a child, Thomas had a mission to help people. At the age of eight, he organized the neighborhood kids to raise money to buy Christmas presents for children in the hospital. This impulse to be of service to those in need carried on throughout his life. He was an enthusiastic Boy Scout, loved camping trips, and always took to heart the slogan: Do a good turn daily.
In Michigan, he graduated from Utica High School and Macomb County Community College in the 1960s. He played trombone in the high school marching band and, with three friends, formed a rock band called The Beavers in which he played bass guitar. He participated in community theater as an actor and a stage manager. He also developed an interest in ham radio at the age of thirteen, getting official certification, learning Morse code and communicating with other ham radio enthusiasts around the world. His love of technology lasted all his life. He was an early computer user and was sending emails before most people knew such a thing existed.
He was very proud of his three children—Heather, a talented singer-songwriter, Thomas, a highly creative photographer and videographer, and Collin, who followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming adept in computer technology and also the performing arts. Thomas’s eyes would glow when he talked about them.
He became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in the 1970s and served people in that capacity for a number of years. Later he combined his love of technology and impulse to help others by testing the safety of computer software used in medical devices, forming his own company with this specialty. He also served as a Shadow Work facilitator, helping people gain emotional health. In Fairfield, he was widely known for his role as priest and later bishop at St. Gabriel and All Angels, the Liberal Catholic Church, where he served for nearly forty years. Hr was known for his compassionate guidance and his inspiring wisdom. He performed a great number of marriage ceremonies and memorial services and taught many classes.
Beyond all these roles, he was a great lover of nature, treasuring time spent in wooded parks, lakes, mountains, and other places of beauty, which he called “God’s art museum.” In recent years, he walked nearly every day in Chautauqua Park, taking wondrous photographs of the changes in every season. He loved music and played his electric guitar daily, even up to the week before his stroke. He was an excellent dancer and was a devoted member of the contra dancing community in Fairfield and the region.
He married his wife Donna in 2015, when they were both in their late sixties. Their blended family, including five beloved children all integrated harmoniously and all will miss him greatly.
He is survived by his wife Donna Miller, his brother Richard Miller of Fairfield, his sister Patti Miller of Florida, his sister Roberta Wallace (Bob) of North Carolina, his sister Marcia Doran (Hugh) of Washington state, his daughter Heather Miller, his son Thomas Miller, and his son Collin Miller ((Nandi) and their mother (his former spouse) Cielle Backstrom (Jeffrey), his stepson Dain Daller (Pando), his stepdaughter Adrien Logsdon (Nate), and his two grandchildren Leo and Dolly Logsdon. He was preceded in death by his father Robert Miller and stepmom Dorothy, his mother Betty Yaroch and stepdad Jack, his father-in-law Donald Seibert, mother-in-law Verna Seibert, and brother-in-law Robert Seibert.
There will be two services for Thomas—both at St. Gabriel and All Angels Church, 300 E. Burlington in Fairfield: a Requiem Eucharist on Saturday, December 20 at 10:15 a.m. and a Celebration of Life service on his birthday, December 31 at 10:15 a.m. followed by a lunch reception.
