Arthur John Miller

Arthur J. Miller (Art), long-time resident and Professional Engineer in Miami, FL passed away peacefully on March 27, 2026 in Deerfield Beach, FL. Art lovingly supported his family in many ways throughout his lifetime. He was loved and will be very much missed.

Art was born in Waterman, IL on May 10 1928, son of Arthur and Olga Miller. Art grew up on the family farm in Northern IL. He learned to fly and earned his private pilot license in 1946. In 1948 Art married Helen Julia Gunderson. Art worked as a journeyman carpenter to help pay for school and his young family. He earned a BS in Civil Engineering and MS in Structural Engineering at the University of Illinois in 1951. Upon graduation, he started his professional career in Wisconsin and then Rochester, NY, working on the structural design for parts of the B-52 bomber.

During their twenty-year marriage, Art and Helen raised six children. One of Art's talents was to remodel unfinished spaces in the family home, bedrooms, bathrooms, patios, and projects to accommodate the growing family. He engaged the kids in these projects, helping them learn basic carpentry and building skills and promoting a 'can do' mindset in them.

Art joined a civil/structural consulting engineering firm in Cincinnati, OH in 1954. He was able to incorporate his love for flying into his work with a plane for travel to project sites and commitments. In 1963 he started his own firm, Arthur Miller & Associates, providing civil & structural design services in Ohio, surrounding states, and structural design for Project Apollo and Space Shuttle facilities. During his years in Cincinnati, Art became involved with national engineering and construction professional organizations, serving as national president of the Construction Specifications Institute.

In 1971 Art married Ava Garcia Munger and adopted her son Tony. In 1975 he secured a VP position in a large engineering firm in Miami and moved there. He was instrumental in getting Ava's three grandchildren, and, Ava's daughter from Cuba to the US.

In 1982 He and Ava started a civil-structural consulting engineering firm, AVART, providing engineering services for, FDOT, Port Authority, the Department of Defense, Miami-Dade (MD) Schools, and US Naval Facilities. A few of his boys worked with him in Florida at times. In service to the engineering profession, Art was President of the Construction Sciences Research Foundation for many years.

In 2001 Art formally converted to Judaism. Art became an active and involved member at Temple Beth Am. When Ava had a stroke and became partially paralyzed, he cut back some of his professional activities to assist in her health care. After Ava's passing in 2016, Art's life-long passion for his work kept him active. He continued his part time consulting work for large engineering firms until 2020. Remaining engaged, Art continued consulting on commitments from previous projects, began teaching classes to inmates at the Homestead Miami-Dade Correctional Facility, and provided engineering services on small projects for private clients until early 2026, age 97.

Art loved finding solutions to engineering challenges, he loved working with the clients and associates that he engaged with, he loved working with and helping young people in his industry, and he loved being an active participant in whatever he was engaged. There are several current professional engineers in South Florida that consider him a mentor and guiding influence.

Art Miller was preceded in death by his parents Arthur and Olga, an infant sister, two brothers, 2Lt Henry Miller (Olive), Capt. John (Jack) Miller (Dorothy), a nephew Bruce Miller and second wife Ava.
He is survived by younger brother Bill (Marie), nieces Kathryn Duffy, Cindy Utley, Patricia Clayton and nephew Jeff Miller, his first wife Helen, Cherry (David), Brad, Jack (Angie), Scott (Debi), Gary (Kandys), Daniel (Sue), Tony and Margaret (Eliseo), 16 grand-children, 35 great-grand-children and 5 great-great-grand-children.

A memorial service will be held at Temple Beth Am, 5950 N. Kendall Drive, Pinecrest FL 33156 on Monday April 13 2026 at 1:00pm

In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made to International Fellowship of Christians and Jews https://www.ifcj.org