This month's story of one of the members of our congregation is an unusual tale of the courage and honor exhibited by an uncommon man who was to endure an experience of tragedy and loss that would have a profound impact on the rest of his life.

This is a story of the life of Ron Miller, who grew up in Canton. Ohio. Ron was an intelligent young man, and the first one on either side of his family to graduate from high school. His early life was uneventful, and he worked as a teller at a Federal Savings and Loan Institution for a few months after his high school graduation, until he realized that this was not the kind of work he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Ron joined the Marine Corps, as the Korean War was ending. He survived all they had to offer at Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and then was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina awaiting new orders. When Ron received orders to go to Korea, he was given a ten day leave before he was to be shipped out from the west coast. He found a ride with a friend so that he could see his family in Ohio before shipping out, and this particular step in his journey would drastically and unalterably change Ron's life forever. They got as far as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Ron sleeping in the car at this stage of the trip, when the friend dozed at the wheel and hit a truck loaded with steel. Ron never knew what had happened until he woke up in a VA hospital in Pittsburgh two days later. The doctors were not telling Ron anything, but he knew what they would not or could not say. He said, "I knew immediately I was totally blind with no hope of regaining my eyesight. I was nineteen"
Ron's life was changed forever, and he was to endure eighteen months of hospitalization and blind rehabilitation training at the Philadelphia Navy Hospital and at a VA Hospital outside Chicago. Ron then moved to be with his family who had moved to LA.
This was to be a new beginning for Ron, who did not lose hope, and chose instead to seize the opportunities that were available to him. He was receiving disability benefits from the VA, and used some of these funds to enterPepperdine College in Los Angeles in September 1956. He graduated in 1960 with Majors in History and Education. Ron continued his education at Pepperdine, earning an MA in History, and a General Secondary Teaching Credential in 1961.
After all this earnest work, Ron had to find a school district that would recognize the value and capabilities of a history teacher who happened to be blind. Ron noted that he applied to many school districts, had a few interviews, and received one job offer. Ron still remembers the Turlock Journal report with a statement by Principal John Pitman of Turlock High School, who said that Ron's job offer was a "humane gamble." Ron was to teach English and American History at Turlock High School for five years.
Ron enjoyed teaching, but made a decision to continue his education, and applied and was accepted for graduate study at the University of Southern California. This was a "grueling period," according to Ron, but he endured again, and finished his dissertation and graduated in 1972 with a PhD in American and California History.
After earning his PhD, Ron served as an Assistant Professor at Pepperdine and taught also at a JC in Huntington Beach. Eventually he was hired as Director of Veteran's Employment and Training Service for the U.S. Department of Labor, and was stationed in Sacramento. In 1985, he accepted the position of Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association with headquarters in Washington, DC. This was an exciting period in Ron's life because he had the opportunity to meet many national political leaders including Senators, Representatives, and Presidents, Carter, Regan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton. During this time he testified before Congress on behalf of blinded veterans to ensure that the VA received funding to continue its excellent blind rehabilitation programs. In 1994, Ron left the VA to serve as a special assistant to Jesse Brown, the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, and a man whom Ron admired very much.
Ron's religious journey began in the years while he was a student at Pepperdine. He joined a Presbyterian college group and, during a weekend college retreat in the Pacific Palisades, accepted Jesus Christ into his life. This was a momentous choice for Ron who remarked, "I cannot explain the tremendous feeling that filled my heart, soul, and mind. My conversion came as the group was singing, ‘Lord I want to be a Christian in My Heart,' and to this day, I cannot hear or sing that hymn without getting very emotional."
Ron was active in various Presbyterian Churches where he lived, serving as an Elder and as a Deacon on a number of occasions. Ron came to the Episcopal Church in his relationship with his wife, Joan, who has been an Episcopalian since 1974. Ron and Joan were to return to Turlock in 1998, when he took an early retirement so that they could come here to be with Joan's aging parents.
Ron and Joan became a part of St. Francis Episcopal Church during the tenure of Father Ed Parrot. They had been married at a civil ceremony in Maryland, and had their wedding blessed at St. Francis. Ron gradually became more knowledgeable about the Episcopal Church and was "thoroughly taken with the beautiful worship and liturgy of the Mass, especially Rite 2." Ron was confirmed in 2001, and gradually became more involved when Father Joel Miller was serving as priest and asked Ron to serve on the Vestry. He served two years as Senior Warden, and was Chair or Co-Chair of two Stewardship Campaigns. In 2007, Ron was again elected to the Vestry, and agreed to serve as Co-Chair of the Search Committee to replace Father Joel, who had been called to serve another church.
This was to be another difficult period in the life of Ron, who had learned to love the Episcopal Church. The Christian fellowship of St. Francis parishioners was shaken by divisive conflicts between those who supported the former bishop, John David Schofield, who planned to separate from the national church, and those who were opposed to bishop's actions. As the year of 2007 progressed, Ron found himself in a great deal of conflict with the Senior Warden and the Search Committee Co-Chair. "When we were asked to accept a priest who had been deposed by another diocese, I could no longer support the intolerable actions of those who wanted to leave the Episcopal Church," Ron remarked. "Joan and I left the St. Francis building with a few others, feeling that our spiritual lives were in shambles. Fortunately, others were stronger and showed me that my faith and love for the Episcopal Church were not in vain. Now, we are part of a growing congregation and so truly blessed by the Rev. Kathryn Galicia, as our Priest in Charge."
Ron is an individual who has endured many losses and gains in his life, and who always seems to find the way and the means to prevail. While acknowledging that he has endured a difficult year, he adds that it has been "one of finding our strength in and guidance by the Holy Spirit." He is grateful that "our Diocese of San Joaquin has been reconstituted with an Interim Bishop and the total support of The Episcopal Church." He maintains the hope and faith that has guided his life, and stated, "I look forward to our continued growth through outreach and the addition of returning parishioners to the Episcopal Church." In addition Ron said, "I still pray with renewed hope that we will someday soon worship again in our sanctuary at our beloved St. Francis Episcopal Church."