Sheilah Miller

Sheilah Marlowe Miller 1940-2011 Sheilah Marlowe Miller, 71, a long-time resident of Shaftsbury, passed away peacefully at Albany Medical Center December 28. She was married to Kelton Miller, the former publisher of the Bennington Banner. Sheilah was born August 15, 1940 in El Paso Texas to Margaret "Peggy" Van Dyke Arnold, a society editor for the El Paso Times Herald and Marshall Beckham Stephenson, the vice president of the Palomas Cattle Company. Peggy later remarried Sandford Marlow, an employee of the then United States Information Agency, whose main goal was to disseminate information on U.S. policies to foreign countries. As a result, Sheilah lived an exciting childhood attending school in several European countries including Germany, Austria and England eventually returning to the United States and settling in Washington D.C. Sheilah attended Bennington College and eventually went to work for the Bennington Banner as the Shaftsbury correspondent. Right off the bat she attracted the notice of the publisher, Kelton Miller. They were married in 1967. Sheilah eventually became a full time school teacher in the Bennington School system. She taught in various capacities at Molly Stark, Shaftsbury Elementary, Bennington Elementary, and Woodford Hollow School, a two room school house. She combined teaching with humor and managed to bring out the best in students who struggled with reading and discipline. Her students loved her. Later in life, Sheilah became active in politics, especially in the Shaftsbury Republican Party. She was eventually elected to the Shaftsbury Board of Selectman. She and her husband were fixtures at Kevin's, Sports Pub and Restaurant in North Bennington. After Kelton's death in 2007, Sheilah continued to go there and spend time with friends of which there were many. She loved animals, reading and doing crossword puzzles. Her favorite hobby was keeping up with her grandchildren, whom she never tired of talking about. Sheilah is survived by two daughters and a son-in law; Elizabeth "Bess" Taft Shapiro of Sacramento, Calif., and her husband Joel Shapiro; Margaret "Meg" Van Dyke Miller of Warrenton, Pa., two grandchildren: Jacob Benjamin Shapiro and Bianca Taft Shapiro, a brother Marshall "Spike" Marlowe of Campbell, Calif., nieces, nephews and cousins. No memorial service arrangements have been made yet, but people are welcomed to make donations to the Second Chance Animal Center or the Bennington Humane Society in Sheilah's memory.