May 7 memorial set for Patty Miller, longtime campus resident
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. May 7 at Stanford Memorial Church for Patty J. Miller, who co-founded a women's health clinic in Sunnyvale and became a wildlife conservation advocate after retiring in 1990.
Miller, wife of former Provost William F. Miller, died April 1 at Stanford Hospital after a seven-month battle with lung cancer. She was 77.
Miller was born July 6, 1930, in Illinois and moved to Indiana as a child.
In 1949, she married William F. Miller, who served as provost in the 1970s and is a professor emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the university's Department of Computer Science. The couple lived on campus for four decades.
Miller earned a bachelor's degree in English literature in 1953 from Purdue University in Indiana, and a master's degree in anthropology in 1968 from Stanford.
In 1970, she co-founded Family Planning Alternatives, a women's health clinic in Sunnyvale, and served as its president and chief executive officer for 20 years. After retiring, Miller, a longtime nature photographer, became active in wildlife conservation.
She photographed wildlife on every continent, served as trustee and chair of the board of directors of Cheetah Conservation Fund USA, and was a member of the advisory board of the Wildlife Conservation Network.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by son Rodney Miller and daughter-in-law Olivia Miller of Redwood City, brother Norman Smith and sister Pamela King, both of Indiana.
