[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 142 (Friday, October 4, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1924-E1925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING HELEN MILLER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 4, 1996

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the people of Dade County recently 
lost one of our hardest-working and most-loved citizens. Helen L. 
Miller, most recently vice-mayor of the city of Opa-Locka, passed away 
on Tuesday, October 2, 1996.
  Mrs. Miller dedicated her life to the service of our community. She 
served in almost every position of leadership in the city government. 
The improvements she made in the lives of the citizens of Opa Locka 
made her one of the most prominent and respected members of the 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues an article from 
the Miami Herald detailing the remarkable life and many accomplishments 
of Helen Miller. Her life is an inspiration and example to everyone in 
public service.

                 [From the Miami Herald, Oct. 3, 1996]

            Helen Miller, Who ``Put Opa-Locka on Map,'' Dies

                           (By Marika Lynch)

       Opa-locka legend Helen Miller, Florida's first black female 
     mayor and the city's current vice mayor, died of an apparent 
     heart attack early Wednesday at Parkway Regional Medical 
     Center. She was 71.
       Mayor to some, and ``momms'' to others, Miller was one 
     month short of her political retirement after 13 years on the 
     Opa-locka dais. But in her many roles on state and local 
     boards, including a stint in 1995 as president of the Dade 
     league of Cities, Miller's influence spread beyond the North 
     Dade city.

[[Page E1925]]

       ``She put Opa-locka on the map,'' said state Rep. Willie 
     Logan, another former mayor, who credited his political 
     success to Miller. ``Wherever she went, she carried the Opa-
     locka banner and brought resources back to the city.''
       Shortly after taking office in 1981, Miller pushed to bring 
     paved streets, lights and parks to the city's long-ignored 
     black neighborhoods. She helped bring an arts-and-cultural 
     center to the Triangle, one of the city's roughest areas.
       Most recently, Miller persuaded the Tri-county commuter 
     Rail Authority to stop its train in Opa-locka.
       Those were just her material accomplishments, Mayor Robert 
     Ingram said.
       ``But her spirituality had a greater value,'' Ingram said. 
     ``Her aura, her ability to stand in adversity. People would 
     hate her, but she did not return that hate. She was very 
     helpful across cultures, and that is how she could keep 
     getting elected.''
       Even in the early 1980s, when naysayers burned a cross on 
     the City Hall lawn and insulted her at city meetings, Miller 
     stood determined, Ingram said.
       ``She seemed to have some kind of mystique that just put 
     everybody at ease and by example, got everybody working 
     together,'' said Russ Marchner, executive director of the 
     Dade League of Cities. ``It made her particularly valuable in 
     making appearances before the county commission and state 
     committees.''
       In honor of Miller's longtime service, the city threw a 
     retirement party Aug. 31. More than 200 people gathered in 
     the rain to pay tribute. Her retirement gift: two round-trip 
     tickets to Hawaii--a trip she was planning to take with her 
     family.
       Miller, the daughter of a tailor and a homemaker, was born 
     in Pottstown, Pa. After her parents, James and Frances Moss, 
     separated when she was a year old, Miller was reared by her 
     great-aunt and uncle in Nassau.
       She lived in New York briefly and married Walker Miller, a 
     New Yorker in 1947. The couple moved to Opa-locka in 1950. 
     Miller worked as a nurse's aide for a short time and owned 
     Miller and Sons Grocery in Liberty City with her husband. 
     Walker Miller died in 1989. The store, now under renovation, 
     is being run by her children.
       ``She was active as a community-oriented person, a church 
     person, and she just was a good mom,'' said daughter Regina 
     Miller. ``She was always there for us.''
       Miller is survived by daughters Regina, Gail and Alvina 
     Miller, and Cotez Jacobs; and son Alvin Miller, who is vying 
     to fill his mother's commission seat in the fall elections.
       Funeral services are set for Oct. 12, with the time and 
     place to be named. In lieu of flowers, please send donations 
     to the Helen Miller Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1036, Opa-
     locka, Fla. 33054.

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