Beatrice Miller

Beatrice Rochelle Miller, nee Kraus, died on November 2nd at age 93. She was born October 26, 1925. She lived with her loving husband of 67 years, Harold Miller. Her husband and three children Judith Schechtman, Steven & Robert Miller mourn her loss, as do her seven grandchildren (Joshua, Leah, Eric, Sam, Laura, Rebecca and David) and three great - grandchildren (Wyatt, Paige, and Mia). Beatrice led a colorful and engaged life. Born in Albany Park she remembered eating mustard sandwiches during the depression. During WWII she worked as a civilian employee with the Defense Department doing secretarial and clerical work. From the time of prohibition and long after, she helped her mother and stepfather run “Joe Stein’s Romanian Steakhouse,” which operated for decades first on Roosevelt Road and later Sheridan Road in Chicago. Her most notable story was the night Groucho Marx was eating there, and true to his reputation, he complained about people hounding him for autographs. Bea, in her late teens, told him he had two choices: he could leave or eat alone upstairs. Not wanting to forgo the skirt steak, chopped liver and homemade pickles, Groucho ate upstairs. In 1947, Bea met her future husband, Harold, who was eating at the restaurant. They were married three years later. While Harold went to John Marshall Law School at night, Bea raised the children and maintained the household. Later, when her husband became a prominent real estate developer, having converted Carl Sandburg Village into condominiums, Bea worked by his side helping to manage the business. “My partner in every facet of my life,” Harold told people about her. Beatrice, along with her husband were active philanthropists. Their causes included alleviating poverty in Asia, building a youth shelter in Israel, paying for badly needed repairs for a major inner-city Chicago school and countless other causes. “We helped a lot of people along the way” she said, “and that’s what counts”. Roosevelt University awarded her an honorary degree for her philanthropy. Funeral services will be held at Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60202 on Monday, November 5th at 1:00 PM. Interment to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois. Donations in memory of Beatrice Miller may be sent to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Chicago, www.Hiaschicago.org. For Shivah and all other information: call Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home: 847-256-5700.