James Benjamin Miller, III

James, born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, is missing and may have drowned while vacationing with his family on November 26th, 2021.

James was cherished by his friends and family for his generosity, humor, loyalty, and easy-going attitude. He was guided by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, however eclectic. Equally at home at a chess match or on the basketball court, his passions included literature, music, film, sports, history, traveling, and community service. He attended Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School and Isidore Newman Middle School, and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 2019. While at Newman Middle School, he was a member of the cross country team and the school band; he also performed for the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra. During his time at Ben Franklin High School, he played on the soccer team and was a percussionist for the school band. For his high school independent research project with the LSUHSC School of Allied Health, he researched the presence of heavy metals in tap water of various neighborhoods of the Greater New Orleans area .

James was a philosophy and history major at Tulane University. He had expressed interest in pursuing a PhD in Philosophy and living the life of an academic. As Vice President of Community Engagement, he established a recycling system, organized student events, and led hurricane relief programs for residents who had been displaced by Hurricane Laura and more recently Hurricane Ida. He participated in community cleanup efforts and data collection for the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. He was a member of the Downriver Chess Club and the US Chess Federation. James worked every summer for the last five years as a Counselor and most recently as an Instructor at the Audubon Zoo, where he received praise for his patience and kindness when working with children of all ages and abilities.

He is survived by his parents Fern Tsien Dvorak and Chris Dvorak, his sister Marie Miller, brother Paul Dvorak, his grandparents Martha Chang Tsien, Connie Dvorak, and Tom Dvorak, aunts and uncles Judith (Miller) and Sam Falcon, John Miller, Sr., Robert and Juli (Bean) Tsien, Jennifer Tsien, Adam and Juli (Dvorak) Buschagen, first cousins John Miller, Jr. and Isabelle Tsien, as well as many other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his father James B. Miller, Jr. and his grandparents James Miller Sr., Pauline (Blanchet) Miller, and Capt. Rollo Loh Sang Tsien. A private Celebration of Life was held on January 15th, 2022 at the Taylor Education Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

His legacy of community service continues with the approval and implementation of the Ley de Seguridad Acuática (Aquatic Safety Law) in El Salvador which has saved more than 400 lives to date, and with donations in his honor to the Blood Center has collected more than 250 pints and counting. To honor James, a lifelong fan of the New Orleans Saints, please consider making a donation to the Team Gleason Foundation for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Research (https://teamgleason.org/#). The family invites you to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences online below.