Henry Stuckert ("Rusty") Miller, Jr., of Somerville, MA, and Ft. Washington, PA, died suddenly in Presbyterian Hospital, Philadelphia, on June 7th, 2016, of acute cardiac arrest, at age 64.
Born in Anaheim, CA, on February 29, 1952, while his father, Colonel Henry Miller, Sr. was on assignment as a Marine pilot in the Korean War, Rusty grew up in Ambler and Ft. Washington, PA. He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and spent his junior year in Rennes, France, in a program known as School Year Abroad. He then spent his senior year at Exeter Academy. He graduated as a member of the Harvard class of 1973, magna cum laude, majoring in religion and literature. He worked in publishing for many years, culminating in a positon as a manuscript editor at the New England Journal of Medicine.
Throughout his life he embraced several interests and causes, many of which were inspired by his mother, Martha Otis Stengel Miller. As an AIDS activist in the 80''s and 90''s, he worked tirelessly to help address the spiritual needs of people infected and affected with HIV with his partner at the time Phil Nightingale. This involvement in turn inspired his mother to support AIDS research programs at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia in the program headed by Dr. Luis Montaner. Following in his mother''s footsteps, he embraced a great love for the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia; and he was instrumental in assisting his mother in creating the Summerhill Preserve at the family farm in Chester County with Natural Lands Trust. An avid gardener and people person, he brought life and love to all he met and zealously worked to create and inspire a love of gardens and nature in all he knew.
He is survived by his partner and devoted and loving husband of 19 years Ken Nimblett, his beloved mother in law Barbara Nimblett, his loving aunt Louise Roberts Stengel, and many cousins in both the Miller and Stengel families. Dear friends abound in both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
A memorial gathering will take place at the Morris Arboretum sometime in the fall. Contributions in Rusty''s memory may be made to: the Martha S. Miller Urban Forestry Internship Endowment at the Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Av., Philadelphia 19118: the Summerhill Preserve at the Natural Lands Trust, 1031 Palmers Mill Rd., Media, PA 19063: or the Montaner HIV Cure Research Program at the Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St., Philadelphia 19104.
"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul." Alfred Austin, The Garden That I Love 1894. English Poet. 1835-1913. Rest in peace in the gardens you loved, my dear Rusty.