Miller at the sports complex front desk. Courtesy | Evelyn Shurtliff
The man who sits at the front desk of the Roche Sports Complex from opening until 10 a.m. on weekday mornings welcomes everyone with a smile, sweet compliment, or a friendly bit of wisdom in hopes of winning a smile in return.
“I work to see your smile,” 90-year-old Jerry Miller said. “That’s the story of my life. I love people. I’ve always worked with people. I’ve had state chairmanships of junior chamber of commerce and I’ve been all over the country. I’ve met people from around the world. I’ve got a telephone book at home about three inches thick. Open it up and you’ll find numbers from all over the world of business associates and people I’ve met. People in Mexico, in Monterey. My life has taken me all around, but I come back to that front desk. And you.”
Miller has worked at the desk since 2012, brightening students’ day by letting his own simple joy radiate into their lives.
“Walk through that door even at 7 o’clock in the morning and it will strike you how joyful he is,” junior Elizabeth Schlueter said. “He always made my day, and even before I knew his name, he would say hello or make a kind comment, or simply say, ‘See you tomorrow.’ And he does that to every single person who walks in, not just the people he already knows.”
Miller was born and raised on a farm in Saline, about an hour’s drive east of Hillsdale. When his grandfather died, Miller said he spent a lot of time helping his grandmother and one day wandered down to her neighbors house because he was fascinated by their tractor. The family then gave him a job driving the tractor.
“I spent all my time with them and they were so good to me,” Miller said. “They gave me opportunities to do things and to learn, but they demanded something from me too. They put a trust in me, and there were moments when I wasn’t worthy of it. But they never stopped. They never gave up on me. They never gave up on presenting me with new challenges. They presented me with hard work, but they taught me that how you deal with people is important.”
In many ways, Miller’s life is like a story in an old film. He met his wife, Karen, at a high school dance their junior year and asked her to dance. After that, he says, “we never stopped dancing.”
When Miller married Karen in 1955, they moved to Tecumseh, Michigan. Miller worked for a trucking company, traveling across the U.S.. While working for a Ford dealer out of Coldwater, Michigan, Miller decided to move to that area and send his daughters to the Reading Community Schools, just southwest of Hillsdale. While in Reading, Miller and his wife bought an old party store and turned it into a convenience store called ‘Miller’s Main Stop’ in the ’70s.
When Miller retired, he and Karen moved closer to Hillsdale and eventually, Miller heard through a friend that the Splex was looking for staff at the front desk.
“It was probably one of the greatest things that happened to me down the road in life, having this opportunity to come to Hillsdale College and work this particular job that I fell in love with,” Miller said. “I fell in love with the young people and every part of it right from the word go, and it has just blossomed from there. It’s been a wonderful ride, these past 14 years.”
Miller says Hillsdale is a great blessing to him, but students say he is a blessing to them each day.
Senior Aidan Kowatch said he always loves being able to see Jerry when he walks through the double doors.
“He always has a quick little one-liner for you whenever you walk through the door,’” Kowatch said. “He always brings a lot of energy, especially in the mornings when the football guys and several other sports teams have to wake up really early to get to workouts. Sometimes you feel like you’re dragging a bit, but there is Jerry with a big smile on his face and you can see that he really loves what he is doing and that he simply loves life. Just seeing that, sharing a smile or a little interaction, just exchanging a few words with him can set your day off on the right foot.”
Miller said that during his 14 years of working at the Splex, one interaction has still stood out to him as a formative experience.
“I used to tell the football boys ‘don’t forget to call your mom. Tell her you love her,’” Jerry said. “It backfired on me one day though. I said that to one boy walking by, and he mumbled something about not having a mom and walked out the door. He didn’t turn around and I didn’t have a chance to walk myself out of a bad situation. So one day I got up and reached across to shake hands with him and I said, ‘My friend, I’ve lost my grandmothers, I’ve lost my mother, I’ve lost my daughter and I’ve lost my wife. I share your pain and I want you to be happy. Please be happy. Please let me be a part of you being happy. It’s a great loss but we must go forward.’ And he and I, it took us quite a while, but we became good friends.”
Jerry doesn’t sit at the desk to monitor that you swipe your ID as you walk in or make sure you’re not stealing something as you walk out. Instead, as most students have learned, he sits there because he wants to make sure you’re worth it — to show you kindness and tell you, “Hey, be happy today!” or “Happy Thursday morning, sweet pea.” He will tell you, “By the way, your smile is a real killer” and you’ll light up even more because every time you pass him, you will walk away richer.
“No one ever gave up on me,” Miller said. “Whatever I wanted to do, they would help me. They made it possible for me to learn from them like a son. So that’s why I can’t give up on the students. I want them to enjoy all the things that I enjoyed, however different they are and however different the world is. I want them to be able to walk where they want to walk and explore what they want to explore and I want to see them to appreciate their opportunity to do that and to respect it.”
Miller said he wants to give students an opportunity to see the joy, goodness, and beauty of the world as he serves the college.
“Of all the places I’ve been and all the people I know, all the excitements, all the disappointments, it comes back to you tomorrow morning when you come through the door,” Miller said. “That’s my life. You are my life.”
