Helen Miller

January 8, 2019

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Helen Miller, 93, passed away on January 8, 2019, in Stillwater, OK. Her parents were Lucy Niehoff and George Carter. Helen was raised in Indianapolis, IN, and graduated from Butler University. Following her graduation, she taught in an Indianapolis high school for two years. Her summer jobs as a nature counselor in girls’ summer camps piqued her interest to attend Cornell University where she earned a master’s degree in botany. Subsequently, she taught biology at Miami University in Ohio. Wishing to pursue a more rounded background, she began work on a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Wisconsin where she met her future husband Rudy. She and Rudy then returned to Cornell where they both earned their doctorates. Following a post-doctorate year in the Netherlands, Rudy took a job in the Zoology Department at Oklahoma State University. A year later, Helen also became a member of the zoology faculty, eventually moving into an associate professor position in biology. During her tenure, she received an outstanding teaching award. Helen was the co-founder and first president of the Payne County Chapter of the National Audubon Society; and throughout the years, she served on a number of its committees. She is the author of several textbooks as well as authored an ongoing column for the Stillwater News Press. Helen was a frequent traveler, having visited all 50 states as well as numerous countries. She was predeceased by her husband in 2017. Her survivors include her three children: Leslie Miller and her partner Kate Coffee, Michael Miller (Hideko), and Mark (Brenda), as well as by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.