Dr. James Alan Miller ("Jim") of Savannah, Georgia, and Port Royal, South Carolina, passed peacefully from this life in the early morning of Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Beloved by friends and family, he died at home under dedicated care from Hospice Savannah and his wife, Elizabeth ("Betty") Kinghorn Chamlee.

Known throughout his life as "Jim," he was born August 8, 1944, in Santa Monica, California. He was the first child of Martha Virginia (Mercer) Miller of Baltimore and Major Alan Randolph Miller, also known as "Jim," of Woodstock, VA. At the time of young Jim's birth, his father was serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific. After World War II, Major Miller left the military, earned a master's degree in statistics, and began a career as a statistician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The family returned to the East Coast and with career advancement lived in numerous state capitals, which gave young Jim Miller an appreciation for varied locations and educational experiences. He took pleasure in Scouting, Boy's State, and music as well as the sciences and remembered with a smile that his Charleston, West Virginia High School marching band led New York City's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade his senior year of high school. His favorite instrument at that time was clarinet, although there is photographic evidence of interest in stringed instruments as he entered college.

He graduated Summa cum Laude from Ohio University in 1966 and was awarded a scholarship to the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, from which he received the M.D. degree in 1970: For the following two years he achieved postgraduate training, continuing at Duke as an intern in Pathology and as a Research Fellow in Pulmonary Pathology with Dr. Philip C. Pratt as Advisor. He received Specialty Board Certification, Diplomata American Board of Pathology in May 1975.

It was during the years of medical training in North Carolina that Jim first became fascinated with the musical culture of the rural Appalachian people. When he discovered that local musicians were friendly and encouraged outsiders to learn their "Old Time" music, he studied banjo, an interest to which he became deeply re-committed much later in life. As with many of his interests, he fully engaged with the subject. In retirement he joyfully traveled to Appalachian folk schools to participate in the historic "Old Time" music.

Jim's years at Duke in North Carolina were immediately followed by military service, 1975-1977, as a Major in the Medical Corps, U.S. Army, Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. He served as Assistant Chief of Anatomic Pathology there, and at the conclusion of service in 1977 received the Army Commendation Medal. The San Francisco years provided opportunity to learn Chinese cooking, and Jim took to it enthusiastically, achieving the proficiency to teach it himself once settled in Savannah.

After military service, Jim moved his young family to downtown Savannah after joining the Department of Pathology at Candler Hospital in 1977 where he based his career until retirement in 2013. He served both the Candler and St. Joseph's Hospital systems and others in many capacities during those thirty-six years. Among his positions were Medical Examiner for Chatham County, ten years as Medical Director of the Medical Technology Program at Armstrong State College; also Consultant in Pulmonary Pathology at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso and at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, GA; also Consulting Pathologist and Medical Laboratory Director at Effingham Hospital at Springfield, GA, and Laboratory Director at Candler Hospital; also Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

He authored 14 publications and 2 abstracts,1973-1999.

As was his habit toward every interest, when his daughters began to enjoy horseback riding, as did his parents in their retirement home of Middlebrook, VA, Jim supported the daughters' interests by assuming full management of a local stable and horse training center, Wicklow Farms. He also accepted leadership roles in the Georgia Hunter Jumper Association and the Coastal Hunter Circuit.

During the daughters' school years, the family also traveled widely for vacations. Trips to Italy were rich with Italian cuisine, and Jim longed to learn more about it and bring it home. He studied in Italy with chef Marcella Hazan on two occasions, learning Italian history and culture, geography, and regional recipes. From then on, friends and family benefited from what he learned.

As daughters left home for college, Jim turned more attention toward spiritual matters, and he followed his established pattern of deep study when seeking more than casual understanding of world religions. He was still working long hours at the hospital, and yet vigorously pursued religious reading. Within that thorough scholarship, he became attracted to the quietness of simple Buddhist meditation, interested in the earliest and most elemental teachings, the spiritual rationalism that can be separated from the overlay of the many cultures that color Buddhist practice. Remembering his California years, he located the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre and began attending retreats. He respected the teachers, continued the studies, and completed Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioners Program.

Back home in Savannah he looked for groups that practiced meditation together and located one nearby at the Unitarian Universalist Church around the corner from his home. At that church he found even wider spiritual interests and close friendships that led to more skill with the banjo, Old Time music group gatherings, Sacred Harp singing, leadership positions within the larger spiritual community, and intensified support of justice endeavors.

At the time of his passing, Jim Miller was a longtime member and supporter of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort ("UUFB") following his many years of leadership at the Savannah UU congregation.

Jim is predeceased by his parents and a beloved nephew, Joseph A. Miller (Lisa Kelley) of Charlotte. He is survived by his wife and his daughters Adrienne Millner (Rob) and Catherine C. Miller, his brother John R. Miller (Maggie) of Charlotte, his grandchildren Maia Uphoff of Roanoke and Tristan Uphoff of West Branch, Iowa; his nephew John R. Miller, Jr. {Shari) of Greenwich, CT and their daughters Lyla and Ella Miller. Children of the late nephew Joseph A. Miller and his surviving wife Lisa are Anna, Alyssa, and Jack. Jim is also survived by his former son-in-law Jeffrey Uphoff, father of Maia and Tristan. Other surviving family members are stepdaughter Mary Elizabeth Chamlee and her husband Michael L. Williams, and their children George, Louise, and Charlotte Williams.

A memorial service for Dr. Jim Miller will be held at 11:30 AM on Saturday, 10 October 2026, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, SC ("UUFB"), 178 Sams Point Road, Beaufort SC 29907.

Fox and Weeks Funeral Home of Savannah and Beaufort Funeral Care & Cremation Center/Copeland Chapel & Memorial Gardens are assisting the family.

Memorial donation suggestions are:

The John C. Campbell Folk School, Attn: Development Office, 1 Folk School Rd., Brasstown, NC 28902. To support the scholarship program tor youth, specify "scholarship" on the memo line. To donate electronically, see the John C. Campbell Giving Page.

or

Hospice Savannah, P. 0. Box 13190, Savannah GA 31416.

or

Marshview Organic Farm,12 Georgees Trail, St. Helena Island SC 29920.

or

A charity of the donor's preference.