Alice K. (Kruszka) Miller

Family and friends mourn the loss of a life well-lived.  Alice Miller, 100 (and 10 months), was a daughter, sister, athlete, wife, mother, artist, musician, grandmother, and great grandmother.  She was a keeper of friends and a lover of poetry, music, art and all things beautiful & full of wonder, whose hands could no longer draw out of the piano all the sounds she so cherished, or fashion the playful sculptures and cards that brought joy to so many; whose eyes could no longer savor the natural world she so loved; and whose ears could no longer hear the treasured verses of others that her memory had lost.  A firm believer in the now and of speaking her truth, she retained the capacity to laugh at herself until a stroke robbed her of that gift.

The daughter of Edward J. and Sally Ann Kruszka, Alice was born on January 22, 1918 in Cambridge Springs, PA.  Competitive until the very end, Alice now holds the family record for longevity, outliving her older brother, Henry J. Kruska, who lived a very full life of only 99 years and one week.  While she left us on November 20th, Alice wanted everyone to know “she is not dead…she’s crossed over.”

Alice had an active, athletic, and creative childhood, growing up spirited and ahead of her time in a way that is now encouraged in girls and young women.  She graduated from Edinboro State Teacher’s College (Edinboro University) in 1939 where she majored in art education and sang in various vocal ensembles.  A championship downhill skier and three-sport athlete, Alice served as president of Women’s Athletics and in her senior year was selected athlete of the year.  As a result of her pioneering contributions to Edinboro’s women’s athletic programs, she was inducted to the Edinboro Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.

She married Ben Miller III of Meadville in 1941.  Together they raised five sons – Tom (& Bonnie, of Durango, CO), Jed (& Amara Geffen, of Meadville), Ben IV (& Lurena, of Lyn, Ontario, Canada), David (of Ft. Collins, CO) and Marc, who passed away peacefully in 2016.

Catholic by birth, she became an enthusiastic member and supporter of the Unitarian Church in Meadville.  The family relocated from Meadville to Barrington, Illinois in 1957.  Divorced in 1971, Alice married Sam Bomar in 1977, eventually moving from Illinois to Sedona, AZ where she became an avid golfer and helped establish the Unitarian Fellowship of Sedona.  Returning to Pennsylvania to be near family and to experience again the colors of the changing seasons she enjoyed as a child, the two settled into their new home on Annesley Circle at Wesbury just after Christmas in 2003.  Sadly, Sam passed away suddenly the morning after Valentine’s day the following year.

Alice enthusiastically maintained her artistic and musical interests throughout her life.  Most prominently she created a series of whimsical sculptures using found objects, including many old wooden foundry patterns from Channellock and Simms Boiler Company in Erie.  She had her first solo show at age 78 in Ft. Collins, CO, with subsequent exhibits in Sedona, AZ,  with another solo show at age 87 at the Meadville Council on the Arts in 2005.

Alice is survived by seven grandchildren including Satchi Miller of Meadville, and fifteen great grandchildren.  In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations in Alice’s name to the Wesbury Foundation, the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Meadville or a charity of your choosing. The family is honoring her wish that there be no memorial service, but asks those of you who knew her to hold her in your hearts.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Robert W. Waid Funeral Home, Inc., 581 Chestnut Street, Meadville where memories and condolences may be shared at www.waidfuneralhome.net