07/07/2026
Roger Miller’s Contributions to Local History Will Be Missed
Roger Miller, a former Monroe Historical Society board member, died on July 5, 2026, at the age of 87. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Roger's family and friends.
Roger made local history at age 17 when he became the youngest person to obtain his pilot’s license while working at the Middletown Regional Airport (then Queen City Flying Service). Roger was featured in “The Middletonian”, the student newspaper at Middletown High School, describing his historic moment. The article recounted Roger flying a Cessna 140 that belonged to the flying club for his first solo flight as a pilot with the goal of going to Lexington and Louisville with Columbus, Indiana, as his destination. Unfortunately, he ended up in Bedford, Indiana, due to an incorrect compass heading and strong winds that blew the plane off course.
But Roger was undaunted and decided to fly to Interstate 70 because, he explains, “by going east I would come to places that I knew. It was not hard to find Middletown. Armco put out a nice red cloud of smoke that could be seen for miles.”
He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1957-1962 before starting a 30-year career at ARMCO that ended in retirement in 1995.
Roger became a well-known local historian and wrote three books for Arcadia Publishing. He co-authored “Images of America: Middletown, Ohio” with George Crout, a book that features more than 200 historic photos of the city and “Middletown; The Steel City”. He also authored “Middletown; Postcard and History Series.” For years, Miller was a long-time columnist for the Middletown Journal, where he penned numerous articles recounting the heritage of the Monroe and Butler County region. He also shared local history on WPFB-AM radio.
Roger was honored for his dedication in history preservation by the Butler County Historical Society and the Middletown Historical Society in 2015.
At the MidPointe Library in Middletown, Roger helped organize the George Crout collection. Roger has donated extensive collections of historic photographs, slides, and negatives that are now preserved in the MidPointe Digital Archives for public access. He belonged to several local historical societies and served on the boards of the Middletown and Monroe Historical Societies, contributing research, curation, and institutional knowledge.
Roger is survived by his wife of 37 years, Penny Miller; his children Lee (Patty) Miller and Jennifer McCray; stepdaughter Kelly (Scott) Williams; seven grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; and other family and friends. He will be entombed at Woodside Cemetery. In his honor, the Monroe Historical Society contributed to Ohio Living Village Hospice.
