Annetta Themla Miller

ANNETTA MILLER

September 8, 1921 – November 4, 2026

Annetta Miller was an Army nurse, a peace activist and anti-war candidate, an elected advocate for public education and a woman dedicated to her family, friends and community. She died in her home at age 105.

Annetta Thelma Klein was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1921, when Model T’s were still only offered in black. Her parents had a store that sold furniture and, during the depression, whatever else they could sell. Her father was also a wood turner, creating bowls and serving dishes, several of which were featured in an exhibit of Useful Objects at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1945.

Annetta’s family moved to Atlantic City when she was in high school. She studied nursing at the Jewish Hospital of Philadelphia. When she received her nursing degree in 1943, she felt that, with war raging in Europe, the place she was needed most was in the Army Nurse Corps, and she enlisted.

Annetta was sent to England on the ocean liner turned troop ship Aquitania. She served as a nurse treating combat casualties in England in 1944 and 1945. Toward the end of her service there, she met a young Army doctor from Dearborn, Michigan, Sidney Miller. Annetta and Sidney married in London soon after V-E day. They were married for 65 years, until Sidney died in 2010.

Annetta and Sidney had three sons – Ron, Fred and Mark. They settled first in East Detroit, where Sidney set up practice as an obstetrician, and later in Huntington Woods. Annetta supported her sons in their every endeavor, including shifting careers and strong stands on public issues. Having seen war first-hand, Annetta opposed the Vietnam War. She went to New York for one of the first large anti-war marches in October, 1965, armed with Sidney’s 16 millimeter movie camera so she could show friends and neighbors the crowds. She joined a national organization opposed to the war, Americans for Democratic Action, and became a national vice-chair.

In 1970, Annetta ran for Congress in the Democratic Party primary in southern Oakland County as an anti-war candidate. She lost that race, but she was nominated by the party to run for the State Board of Education. She won an 8-year term on the Board, and was re-elected twice, serving for 24 years. She was a strong advocate for public education throughout. She listened to everyone, and went to bat for schools, teachers, kids and administrators in need.

Annetta visited many school districts throughout the state. When she and Sidney traveled abroad, she took artwork from Michigan classrooms, visited schools and brought back the artwork of kids from many places, including China, Cuba and the Soviet Union, to

show children here. Wherever she went, she made lifelong friends, corresponding with many over years. Her goal was to use education and art for understanding and peace.

Annetta got her own bachelor’s degree in art history from Wayne State University in 1995, at the age of 74. Having left the State Board of Education, she ran for the Wayne State Board of Governors in 1996, won again and served on the Board for 16 years. She worked for improved services for veterans by Wayne State, more involvement in the needs of the City of Detroit and better environmental practices, including recycling.

Annetta Miller is loved and honored by her sons and their families – Ron and his wife Hiyol Yang and his sons Jacob and Anders, Fred and his wife Grace Hedemann and their children Jonah and Zoe, and Mark and his wife Carianne, their daughter Rose and his sons Max and Isaac – by close friends she valued so highly and by the wonderful primary caregivers for her late in her long life, Delores and Germaine Pleasance.

A memorial celebration of Annetta’s life will be scheduled for a later date. Donations in her honor may be made to the Annetta Miller Endowed Scholarship Fund at Wayne State University at http://giving.wayne.edu/donate, by checking Other and filling in the fund name, or by mail at Wayne State University Gift Processing, 5700 Cass Avenue, Ste 1200, Detroit, MI 48202.