Marianne Miller

1925 - 2023

Auburn - Marianne Miller, age 98, passed away peacefully on April 18, 2019 at Clover Manor Nursing Home, Auburn Maine with her daughter Evelyn at her side. Marianne was born on January 3, 1925 in Konigsberg, East Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia. Marianne and her mother, two sisters, and grandmother moved to Berlin, Germany before WWII and survived the war and the Nazis. After the war ended, Marianne started her secondary education at Humboldt University, located in the Russian sector of occupied Berlin. Marianne was one of the university students who, dissatisfied with the strong Communist influence at Humboldt, founded the new Free University of Berlin (free in the sense of political freedom) located in the American sector. Marianne was very active in student government, and was elected Vice-President of student government, becoming the first woman elected to student government in Germany. The Free University is now one of the most famous universities in the world.

Marianne came to the US in 1949 on a Fullbright Scholarship to the University of Minnesota, and never returned to Germany. She met a US Army Air Corps dentist, Dr. Lester Miller, in occupied Berlin, and they married in Minneapolis in 1949 and returned to Auburn, Maine. They had two daughters, Evelyn and Elaine. Eventually Marianne earned a Master's Degree in Education/Reading from UM Orono, and was a popular and beloved kindergarten teacher at the Pettengill School in Lewiston for many years. Marianne was a member of Beth Abraham Synagogue and Temple Shalom. She was an expert knitter and did beautiful and intricate embroidery, both of which she learned in Germany and passed down to her daughters.

Marianne was predeceased by her husband, Lester Miller in 2008 and by her daughter, Elaine Miller in 1998. Marianne is survived by her daughter, Evelyn Miller, three grandsons, David Mortimer (Lila Mortimer), Samuel Mortimer (Saga Krantz), and Adam Mortimer (Rachel Schwemberger.) She is also survived by five great-grandchildren. The family appreciates the great kindness of neighbors, especially Joan and Roger Champagne, and of Judy Bagley, Marianne's close friend, who was always there with a helping hand, a listening ear and a warm heart.

Funeral service Thursday April 20th at 2 PM inside the chapel at Beth Abraham Cemetery, Danville Rd. Auburn followed by interment. To leave a message for the family in the online guestbook, please visit www.thefortingroupauburn.com In lieu of flowers, donations in Marianne Miller's memory are requested for Temple Shalom, Auburn ME, and The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Augusta, ME.

A service of The Fortin Group Funeral Home, Auburn, 783-8545