Miller
Mary Thurwachter
BOYNTON BEACH — Friends and family of community news journalist Anne “Nancy” Fontaine Maury Miller will remember her during a service at 11 a.m. Oct. 13 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach.
Mrs. Miller, 79, died while under hospice care on July 28 at Bethesda Memorial Hospital.
She retired from full-time reporting in 1994, but since worked as a freelance journalist and wrote a restaurant advertising column for The Palm Beach Daily News.
Much of her reporting was for The Delray Beach News, later known as The Delray Beach News-Journal, where she was lifestyle editor; and for The Boca Raton News/The News of Delray Beach. Both have ceased publication.
“Nancy was a true
professional and I was and am proud to say we were best friends,” said Sandra Wesley, who worked with Mrs. Miller at The Delray News-Journal and The Boca Raton News.
“When I got word that my dad had passed away in September, Nancy drove me home, and that Christmas her mother invited my mom and me to her place for Christmas dinner. … In later years, when I needed a cochlear implant, Nancy’s voice was the first I heard in the audiologist’s office. She was there for me all the time. And I tried to be there for her, too.”
Susanna Laurenti, who also worked with Mrs. Miller at The Boca News, said Mrs. Miller, a columnist, brought humor and warmth to her work.
“She covered human interest items with the unique perspective of a longtime South Florida resident who had seen the region transform,” Laurenti said. “Nancy’s dedication to journalism didn’t wane even as she reached retirement age; she chose to continue working and could regularly be found in the newsroom, conducting research and discussing story ideas with editors.
“In every professional interaction, Nancy was compassionate, thorough and genuinely interested in the subject matter. She represented a bygone era of journalistic standards and was a true credit to the craft.”
Mrs. Miller won numerous awards for her feature articles and photography.
Born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Mrs. Miller grew up in Delray Beach and Annapolis, where her father, Robert H. Maury, served in the military. Her mother was Anne Fontaine Maury Adams.
She attended public school in Delray Beach and at Gulf Stream School. She also boarded at and graduated from Graham-Eckes School in Palm Beach.
Earlier in her career, Mrs. Miller, a 1954 sociology graduate of Sweet Briar College in Virginia, was a social worker in Annapolis, Md.
She married Bruce Miller, then a teacher at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in 1958. Mr. Miller, who became a high school chemistry teacher, died in 2008. They raised their family in Delray Beach before retiring to Boynton Beach.
Mrs. Miller was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach since 1975. She funded and wrote Rooted in Faith, a publication about the church’s history from 1974 to 1998, and served as church secretary.
Mrs. Miller is survived by her daughter, Leslie Fontaine Niles and son-in-law, Michael Niles, of West Palm Beach; son, retired Navy Capt. Scott Davidson Miller and daughter-in-law, Katherine Miller, of Pine Mountain, Ga.; daughter, Anne Elizabeth Powell, of Franklin, N.C.; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Lorne and Sons Funeral Home of Delray Beach handled the arrangements.
Editor’s note: Many members of The Coastal Star staff worked with Nancy Miller over many years of practicing journalism in Palm Beach County. We considered her a colleague and a friend. She will be deeply missed.
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