James Joseph Miller

In 1948, Jim graduated from Robstown High School and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, serving three years at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, Kansas. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of North Texas and a Master of Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jim served most of his professional career as a leader in Texas city governments. In the late 1960s and early 1970s in Waco, he served as Director of the Model Cities Program, a federal urban renewal effort begun under President Johnson’s Great Society initiative. Jim’s papers and memorabilia from this program are now housed in the historical archives of the Waco Public Library. He then served as Waco’s assistant city manager until 1973 when he was named assistant city manager of Austin. In 1980, Jim became the city manager of Victoria, a position he held until his retirement in 1994.

Throughout his career and into retirement, Jim led and served on many nonprofit boards and government association committees and was active in church and fraternal organizations. He was a founding member and the first chairman of the University of Texas’ SAGE continuing education program and was the president of Austin’s Lifetime Learning Institute Board for many years. When not involved in community activities in Austin, Jim and wife Lois traveled the world together.

Jim is survived by his wife of 61 years, Lois, and the families of daughter Linda Miller Raff and husband John; brother-in-law John P. Dickerson; sister Marjorie Hutto Loyd and husband Wes; sister June McGaughey; nieces Sherrill Yaklin Pratz and Kathy Yaklin Murphy; nephews Burt McGaughey, David McGaughey, Robert Hutto, Jerry Hutto, and Leonard Hutto; and cousins Edwin Dyer and James Curtis.

Interment at Cook Walden Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas.