Linfield Class of 1970; played basketball for Ted Wilson-coached Wildcats
By Alex Bruell, Longview (Wash.,) Daily News 6/25/2020
Miller was competitive to the end, friends and family said: Three weeks before his death, he shot an 82 out on the golf course, thrashing the rest of his friends and family, R.A. Long P.E. teacher and retired coach Rally Wallace said.
After the game, Miller still “thought he could have shot better,” Wallace said.
It’s a small example of the indomitable spirit he showed against challenges, his loved ones said. Miller, a renowned Cowlitz County athlete, was diagnosed in September 2018 with cancer, and doctors originally estimated he had about six months to live, his daughter Robin Fisher said. He “fought and fought and fought” and beat the odds for almost two years.
“Dad hated to lose anything,” Fisher said, “and this challenge got the best of him, unfortunately. ... (But) he definitely won at being the best human.”
Friends, colleagues and acquaintances remember him as a friendly prankster and a focused worker who would use any family gathering as a chance to compete, whether in chess, corn-hole, cribbage or other sports. And they remember him for his infectious laugh, respect for the rules, gentle demeanor and unwavering support for his children.
Miller is “probably the most gifted natural athlete I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Bill Call, a friend since kindergarten and a teammate who played six years of basketball with Miller throughout their Monticello Junior High and R.A. Long careers.
When they were both 10 years old, Miller taught Call how to throw a curveball while the boys were playing Little League Baseball: “If you had to bat against him, you were in fear for your life, because you knew he was going to strike you out.”
“He’d beat you at playing horse, then he’d turn around and beat you at chess, then beat you at horseshoes,” Call said. “Any game, any competition, he could make the transition at the drop of a hat.”
While playing basketball at R.A. Long, they were coached by Miller’s father Russell E. “Tiz” Miller, who was a football star at Kelso High School in the 1930s and arguably one of the best all-around athletes in Cowlitz County history. Tiz Miller died in 2004.
Terry Miller was the Lumberjack’s starting point guard his junior and senior years, and he won all-conference honors after leading the conference in scoring in both campaigns. Miller and the rest of the 1966 Lumberjacks earned 16 wins and finished 13th at state that year.
By his senior year, Miller was averaging around 24 to 26 points per game, Call said, despite 8-minute quarters and no three-point line. The game was fast-paced and mobile back then, Call said, and Miller loved it.
“He could see the court, and he knew exactly what was going on with every player,” Call said. “He had a great outside shot, but he could also drive. He was probably 5’9”, 5’10” at the time, and he’d go in there against 6’5”s. He wouldn’t hesitate at all. He was fearless. He knew what he was doing at all times on the court.”
Miller also competed in track and golf at R.A. Long, and he was a safety and backup quarterback on the league champion football team in 1965.
After high school, Miller went on to Linfield college and was a three-year basketball starter who led the Wildcats into the national tournament during his junior and senior campaigns.
He was named the Cowlitz County Athlete of the Year in 1968.
Miller was no slouch off the court, and he loved activities from fishing to clam digging to tennis.
Miller’s intuition let him win even in seemingly impossible situations, Fisher said: “He was just able to find a way.” And he never complained, no matter the circumstances, his daughter Lori Miller said.
His friends recall that whatever the game or sport, Miller would usually beat you. If he didn’t, he’d make you play to two-out-of-three. But he also wasn’t one to gloat about it, they said.
“He’s a quiet achiever, a guy that goes out and does his thing,” Wallace said.
“He never talked a whole lot about his accomplishments.”
“He was one of those guys that everyone loves,” said Terry’s son Scott Miller.
“He had the most amazing group of friends, and I think that shows that excellence attracts excellence.”
And whenever he laughed, “you couldn’t help but laugh,” Scott Miller said.
Miller married his first wife Penny Nichols in 1969, with whom he had three daughters. They later divorced.
He went into commercial carpentry in the late 1970s, several years after graduating from college. It was a career that let him travel to work on projects around the United States, his wife Polly Miller said. (They married in 1992 and had two more children.)
Wherever they went, Terry Miller would be able to point at buildings and say “I built that,” Polly Miller said.
He worked as a foreman in the industry for about 27 years, much of that time at contracting companies Howard S. Wright and Peter Kiewit, and retired around 2006. Along the way, the two built a couple of homes and Miller even constructed a log home for his wife’s father in Alaska, where Terry Miller loved to fish.
Wallace, then the head basketball coach at R.A. Long, hired Miller as an assistant basketball coach in 2007, a role Miller held for a decade. Miller was “a player’s coach,” Wallace said, patient and calm with the students.
“He’s a guy I’m always going to look up to and remember, forever,” Wallace said. “I’m really proud I was able to call him my friend.”
Daily News sportswriter Sam Barbee played varsity basketball at R.A. Long during the 2008-2009 season, and had Miller as an assistant coach that season. Like his father, Miller was a living legend, and old-timers would happily share stories from his days on the court, Barbee said.
“You would be somewhere, and some old timer would walk up and say ‘Terry Miller, that guy can play.’ And another guy would say something. And a week later, another guy would.”
On the court, Miller was soft spoken but knew what he was talking about, Barbee said: “When he did talk, it was important, and we listened.”
In 2009, Miller was among 150 former standout prep athletes from across Southwest Washington honored for their athletic exploits with induction to the Lower Columbia Area All-Century Team. In 2007 he was inducted to the R.A. Long High School Hall of Fame.
Miller suffered a stroke in 2010, so he took a year off from coaching to recover. While it slowed down some of his mental processing, Fisher said, he took it all in stride. He’d have to spend more time counting on a tape measurer, for instance, but he’d still do it right.
Miller and Wallace both retired from coaching after the 2017-2018 season.
Despite his declining health in his last two years, Miller fought to attend his kid’s competitions to cheer them on.
His grandson Owen Enriquez, a Lumberjack wrestler, graduated in 2019, and “I think part of (Terry’s) fight to stay alive was to watch Owen at the state wrestling tournament,” Fisher said.
“When he first got the cancer, he said, ‘I’m not going to be able to see Owen wrestle for his senior year,’ “ Wallace said, fighting back tears as he recalled the conversation. “I said, ‘Aw heck. We’re gonna make it.’ “
And they did.
“He was so sick, but he was not going to miss watching him wrestle,” Fisher said.
That spirit will carry on with his children, his daughter Annie Miller said.
“Everyone will always hear his voice telling them that they can do whatever they put their mind to.”
