RICHARD MILLER Obituary

RICHARD DICK SHERWIN MILLER Passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 30, 2024 at Hale Ku'ike Bayside in Kaneohe, Hawaii at the age of 93. Dick was born on December 11, 1930, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brookline High School. From Boston University he received a B.S. in Business in 1951, and received his J.D. Magna Cum Laude in 1956. He received his L.L.M in 1959 from Yale University. From 1951 to 1953 he served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War stationed in Dusseldorf, Germany. Dick was the quintessential law professor and a prolific writer, teaching Torts and other legal subjects first at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, then at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In 1973 he moved his family to Kailua, Hawaii to help found the new law school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which later would be named the William S. Richardson School of Law. From 1981 - 1984 he also served as Dean of the law school. He taught there until he retired in 1994. Dick was happily married to Doris S. Miller (nee Lunchick) from 1956 until her passing in 2005. He re-married Betty Lee Sugarman in 2015, and remained happily married until his passing. He loved calling Hawaii home and was very active in the Honolulu legal community and served on several boards, including the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, the Honolulu Media Council, and Kokua Council. He often wrote op-ed pieces for the newspaper and testified at the Hawaii State Legislature on issues such as health law, equal rights, ending the drug war, and compassion in dying. He also loved photography, boating, and classical music. Dick was known for his witty and dry sense of humor, and he loved writing silly poems for birthdays and other special occasions. Even though, by 2021, dementia had robbed him of his brilliant intellect, he was always letting his visiting family and friends and the staff at Hale Ku'ike Bayside and Bristol Hospice know how much he loved and appreciated them. He was a mensch, always. He is survived by his wife, Betty Sugarman, his children, Andrea Armitage (Nelson), and Matthew Miller, his grandson, Samuel Armitage, and his stepdaughter, Toby Wilson. A memorial will be held later this year. Donations in his memory may be made to the University of Hawaii Foundation, Richard S. Miller Endowment for the William S. Richardson School of Law.