Samuel Henry Miller was an American businessman and philanthropist who propelled the growth of Forest City Material Co. from lumber to real-estate which became Forest City Enterprises. He was the first Jew to receive an Archbishop Edward F. Hoban Award for service to the Catholic Church. Miller served in World War II as a lieutenant. He served as a member of the board for many companies.
Early life
Miller's father emigrated from Russia to Ellis Island where an Irish immigrant taking names gave him the surname of Miller. His mother emigrated from Poland. The couple married in 1918 and settled in Cleveland. Miller's father was a junk peddler. He was born on June 6, 1921. Miller said he never knew his father's birth-given surname. “I wouldn't be able to pronounce it”, he shrugged in a 2007 interview. “You wouldn't be able to spell it.” He attended Woolridge Elementary growing up. Miller grew up poor and spoke only Russian and Yiddish – the native languages of his parents. He attended Cleveland's Western Reserve University where he studied business and history and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. Miller then went to Harvard University with a full scholarship. He graduated in 1943 with a master's degree in industrial administration, a war-time equivalent of an MBA. Miller joined the United States Navy in 1942. During World War II, he was a lieutenant in a Seabee unit in the pacific theater. He was in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in which the U.S. Navy participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign and won. Miller finished his tour with the Navy in 1946.
Career
In 1947, Miller joined Forest City Material Co. In the 1940s and 1950s, he was a strong proponent of statehood and helped raise money for the fledgling Israel. Miller believed that had Israel had existed during World War II, 6 million Jews would not have been killed in the holocaust. In the 1950s, he was the man behind Forest City's purchase of thousands of lots in Parma, Ohio, commencing the company's foray into residential real estate. A housing development opened doors to the mixed-use development, such as office and retail projects anchored by Parmatown Mall. Around Christmas in 1963, a scandal arose when he sent $25 and $50 gift certificates to Parma officials and four councilmen when Forest City had numerous interests there. Once Miller found out it was legal, he mastered the eyebrow-raising tactic for future purposes. Miller would also donate generously. He received the Cuyahoga County Veteran of the Year Award in 1974, the Ohio Governor's Award and the Harry S. Truman Award in 1977. In 1987, Miller with other Jewish leaders met Pope John Paul II in Miami. In a second meeting in 1995, the Pope rewarded him for his support of Catholic education in Cleveland. Bishop Anthony Pilla of the Cleveland Diocese recruited Miller in 1988 to save 15 inner-city Catholic schools from closing. Miller agreed, but he told Pilla he had to do it his way. He asked Robert M. Ginn of Centerior Energy Corp. and Frank Mosier of BP America to help him to raise money. Together, they raised $5 million. For his efforts, Miller was the first Jew to receive an Archbishop Edward F. Hoban Award for service to the Catholic Church. In 1989, Miller endorsed Michael R. White's mayoral election of Cleveland. White often referred to Miller as his mentor and godfather. In a 2007 interview with The Plain Dealer, he said of his association of White: “only because of my love for the underdog.” Miller helped White to raise money for causes such as the 1993 school board and City Council elections. In 1994, he helped to persuade Clevelanders to pass an operating school levy of $500,000. Miller also was chief fundraiser for White's re-election bids. In 1994, White dedicated Sam Miller Park, formerly Andrews Park, at 750 East 88th St., characterizing the honor as a reward for his confidant's civic contributions. Miller was an early founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The American Red Cross gave Miller the American Red Cross National Humanitarian Award in 1993. In 2002, with his second wife, Maria, he would donate $8 million to the Cleveland Clinic. In return, the Cleveland clinic named its emergency services building for the couple. Miller was presented received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Diocese in 2015. He was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cleveland Jewish News on November 20, 2016 at Landerhaven. Miller served on many boards, including: Baldwin Wallace University, John Carroll University, Cleveland State University, Notre Dame College, Case Western Reserve University, Harvard Business School, WVIZ, ideastream, American Red Cross, Urban League, United Jewish Appeal, and Jewish National Fund. In 2013, he was inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.
After serving in World War II, Miller met his future wife, Ruth Ratner, in Wickliffe, Ohio, in 1946 at Leonard Ratner's summer cottage. Ruth was the daughter of Forest City Material Co. co-founder Leonard Ratner and sister of Albert Ratner; they married later that same year. Together, they had four children: Aaron David Miller, Richard Miller, Gabrielle Miller, and Abraham Miller. Miller divorced Ratner in 1983 and she remarried Rabbi Phillip Horowitz. He married Maria Shanley in 1983. Shanley converted from Roman Catholicism to Judaism upon marrying Miller. In 1996, his first wife, Ruth, died from cancer. Miller had surgery in 2002 treat bladder cancer. He died on March 7, 2019.
