Obituary: Win Miller remembered for integrity, strong work ethnic

Win Miller is being remembered for her integrity, honesty and strong work ethic in covering Chatham-Kent as a reporter and serving as a biographer to tell the stories of outstanding farmers.

Miller, who worked in radio and newspaper, died on Thursday at age 104.

Tea Chatham Daily News interviewed Miller in March 2019 for a story about her 100th birthday. She recalled beginning her journalism career working for the Windsor Star in 1936 at age 17 as a student reporter covering stories at the former Chatham Collegiate Institute and Chatham Vocational School.

She soon was called on to cover other news for the Star.

From there, she went on to become news editor at CFCO radio before becoming chief of The London Free Press Chatham office in 1957 where she remained until her retirement in 1982.

Retired reporter Simon Crouch, who covered local stories for newspaper, radio and television during his career, remembers Miller being “so incredibly hard working.

“There would be four or five stories that she generated per day, six days a week in The London Free Press,” he said.

Crouch said if there was a fire at 4 am, Miller would be there covering it and still make the rotary luncheon meeting at noon to cover a cabinet minister who was the guest speaker.

He said she would also cover evening council meetings as part of her regular duties.

“She was just on top of everything, everywhere,” Crouch said. “She was the ultimate professional.”

Miller earned great respect from the local agricultural community, which included her being inducted into the Kent Agricultural Hall of Fame in October 1991. She also was made a lifetime honorary board member and served as the hall of fame’s first biographer.

Barry Fraser first met Miller in 1969 while working as an assistant agricultural representative for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

“She had a very strong, respected position when it came to the media,” Fraser said of Miller. “Trust was the bottom line when it came to Win Miller.”

He said Miller covered countless meetings for agricultural and rural organizations with accurate stories appearing in the next morning’s edition of The London Free Press without fail.

“She was very dedicated.”

Fraser, who was among those who founded the Kent Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1988, said he and others asked Miller to serve as the biographer to tell the stories of inductees.

He said Miller served as the biographer for 20 years “when she was well into her 80s.”

When being interviewed by The Chatham Daily News in 2019, Miller didn’t want to take any credit for helping pave the way for women in journalism.

But she knew her work ethic was second to none, adding she was very conscientious and honest in her reporting.

Miller didn’t plan on being a journalist.

“But once I got into, I just loved it,” she said.

She enjoyed many of the politicians she met during the years, including a former minister of agriculture, the late Eugene Whelan from nearby Essex County. Miller said Whelan wrote her a letter that said politicians complain that reporters got things wrong.

“The trouble was, you did things right,” she recalled Whelan’s letter saying.

Both Fraser and Crouch remember Miller for being strong in her opinions.

Although opinionated, Fraser said Miller “knew where the line was as far as being an objective reporter.

“Her ethics were high,” he said. “She’s got a very strong legacy.”

Crouch said not only did Miller have strong opinions, she wasn’t afraid to call someone out and say, “Oh, c’mon, you don’t really mean that do you?”

He said Miller’s personal opinions “never colored or infected her stories.”

He added she had high standards and was “a very caring person who cared about the community a great deal.

“I am the best for having known Win Miller, there’s no doubt about it,” Crouch said.

Miller’s obituary states she loved traveling with her late husband Bill Miller, adding they visited every continent except Antarctica.

A celebration of life for Miller will be held Saturday, Sept. 9 at 11 am at the McKinlay Funeral Home, 459 St. Clair St. in Chatham. Visitation will be held Friday, Sept. 8 from 3 pm to 5 pm and 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the funeral home.