News & information
NALC is deeply saddened to report the death of F. John Miller, an NALC Headquarters employee who retired in 2005 after a 28-year career serving America’s letter carriers. Miller died at the age of 86 in Washington, DC, on Sept. 11 after a brief illness.
“NALC mourns the loss of John Miller,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “We celebrate his decades of service to our members and to the American labor movement. On behalf of NALC, I extend our deepest sympathies to his friends and family—most notably his children, grandchildren, and his wife, former National Secretary-Treasurer Jane Broendel. He will be greatly missed.”
After working in academia and teaching at the AFL-CIO’s Labor College, Miller was hired by NALC in 1977 to oversee the union’s research and educational activities for President Joseph Vacca. He then went on to serve President Vincent R. Sombrotto as his executive assistant and staff director for more than 20 years, a role he continued with President Bill Young until 2005.
President Young noted upon Miller’s retirement, “John worked long hours for decades on behalf of letter carriers. His legacy is a stronger, more professional organization.”
Miller helped transform and upgrade the union’s communications, public relations, research, and legislative/political capabilities by recruiting high-quality professional staff and driving innovation. In addition:
- He took the lead in organizing 12 national conventions with videos, educational workshops and organizing activities, as well as the special Centennial Convention held in Milwaukee in 1989, featuring an original play, a statue unveiling to celebrate the NALC’s founding, a parade and a centennial party.
- He collaborated with President Sombrotto to create the Employee Involvement Program with the USPS and helped train a generation of branch leaders in creative problem-solving.
- He helped the union grapple with the emerging challenge of the internet by organizing the NALC 2000 strategic planning conference with representatives of the mailing industry and other unions in 1995.
- He used his training as a historian to help preserve the union’s history by co-writing the NALC’s official history, Carriers in a Common Cause, and creating an archive of historical NALC materials at the Walter Ruether Library at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.
Miller earned a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College, a PhD in American history from the University of Minnesota, and law degree from Catholic University.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Miller’s name may be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind at guidedogs.com/27unleash.