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MARY ANN MILLER

Alexandria, VA, USA

October 10, 1934 - January 9, 2020

Oct 10, 1934 - Jan 9, 2020

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Mary Ann Miller

October 10, 1934 – January 9, 2020

The Fairfax, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Beloved wife of James (Rich) R.C. Miller; loving mother to Michael R.C. Miller of Alexandria, VA and Lori A. Miller of London, England; sister to Karen Baker Thumm and Nancy Baker Moore; daughter to the late Dean Craven Baker and Virginia Mills Baker of Ann Arbor, MI.

Born in Ann Arbor, Mary Ann graduated from University High School where she played basketball and was captain of the cheerleading squad. Mary Ann was a talented singer who sang in several choirs and won a summer scholarship to study music at Interlochen. She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor joining the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. A year shy of graduation, she married Rich, a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant from West Point on 30 December 1955 and moved to Schofield Barracks, HI.

She completed college at the University of Hawaii, earning her Bachelor of Education and began teaching at the Army Education Center to augment Rich’s meager Army pay in the earliest days of their marriage.
An Army Wife, she was one of our nation’s unsung heroes, packing up and moving on short notice nine times, quickly creating homes from shabby quarters, and holding the family together through Rich’s deployments to Vietnam and Korea while raising two wonderful children. She transformed herself into an extraordinary cook and consummate hostess, graciously hosting countless parties for members of her husband’s commands as well as fondly remembered family gatherings and holiday celebrations.

In 1977, she achieved her Master of Education in Counseling Psychology at The American University, Washington, D.C., and entered practice as a marriage and family counselor. After relocating to Chicago in 1979, she founded Northshore Counseling, Inc., and became a noted specialist in the treatment of sexual addiction. Her work was widely featured on radio and in the press leading Rich to declare her the “Dr. Ruth of the Great Lakes” a moniker embraced with her customary good humor.

In 1985, she and Rich bought the second family sailboat, Eagle. Over the years she relished telling people how she bought the boat while visiting Lori in London in 1984. Mike helped sail the boat from England to Annapolis in 1985 and Rich had her trucked to Lake Michigan.

They sailed Eagle on Lake Michigan until leaving in July 1990 to set off on their ten-year sailing adventure …and what an adventure she had. She saved their lives by turning away from the bow of a fast-moving freighter while motoring in a dense fog up the St. Lawrence Seaway. They sailed from Chicago to Nova Scotia, turned right and sailed down the Eastern Seaboard to Florida. Then they crossed the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, sailing to the Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Windward and Leeward islands on to Trinidad, Venezuela, and Bonaire. As scuba divers they shot their share of fish and lobster and collected an amazing number of beautiful seashells. For ten years they roamed the islands sailing 40,000 nautical miles on the good sailing ship, Eagle.

She took leave from the boat in 1998 to endure a spinal fusion, but returned quickly to the boat, before telling her husband it was time to go home. Home was a house she bought in 1971 at 905 Waynewood Blvd, Alexandria, VA. The house was rented for 20 years, but was quickly restored to a comfortable space to enjoy life ashore. She and Rich lived there until moving to The Fairfax in October 2019. Her memory and health failed rapidly following hospitalization for a heart condition in November 2019. She died at home in her husband’s care with hospice assistance in the early morning of 9 January 2020. She was 85. They were married 64 years. She lived an extraordinary life. Her warmth, elegant style, graciousness, playfulness, and sense of fun are dearly missed.

She was cremated and will be returned to her husband. When he passes away their ashes will be mixed and a portion buried in the military cemetery at Quantico, VA. The remainder of their ashes will be taken aboard Eagle to be “buried at sea.”

A memorial reception will be held at the Army Navy Country Club, 1700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202 on Thursday 23 Jan 2020 from 1:30-4:00 PM.

Donations in her memory may be made to the hospice or charity of your choice.

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