Edward Miller

Edward Owen Miller, Sr., passed away at his home in Gulfport on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. He was born in Gulfport on January 25, 1945.

Eddie graduated from Gulfport High School in 1962. He played basketball, baseball, and ran track for the Commodores. He played on the first team coached by legendary Gulfport basketball coach, Bert Jenkins. At Gulfport High, he set a high hurdles record at the 1962 state meet that stood for 16 years.

In the summer of 1962, he went to Laurel where the Los Angeles Dodgers were holding open tryouts. He was offered a deal, but his father would not let him go. He then enrolled at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (Perk) on an athletic scholarship. He played basketball, baseball, and track at Perk. On the track he won the Mississippi Association of Junior Colleges title in the high hurdles and placed second in the high jump. He was named the track team’s 1964 Most Valuable Player. His sophomore year, the basketball team won the state title. At the state track meet he placed second in the high hurdles, second in high jump, and was a member of the state championship 440-relay team. In 2007 Eddie was inducted into the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Athletic Hall of Fame.

After finishing at Perk, he enrolled at Mississippi State University where he was a member of Pi Kappa Apha fraternity. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1966. In the fall of 1966, he enrolled in the University of Mississippi School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1969.

For the next four years, Eddie worked as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the J. Edgar Hoover era. He served in St. Louis, Missouri, and West Palm Beach, Florida. While working in West Palm Beach, he participated in the Watergate investigation. In 1972, he returned home to Gulfport to practice law. In 1986, he and Dickie Smith formed a partnership which lasted until Eddie’s death. In 1989, Eddie argued a case in the United States Supreme Court. He served as counsel for the Gulfport Civil Service Commission for over 40 years.

Eddie loved music-writing, singing, and playing the guitar. At Mississippi State he played and sang folk music with a group named the Devonshire Singers. After returning to Gulfport, he enjoyed singing in the church choir, writing music, and playing gigs with James Ducker, Derrel Brown, and Johnny Hozey. He wrote a song titled “Mississippi” that won first place in the Mississippi Masterpieces Art and Song Writing Contest. He was honored to sing “Mississippi” accompanied by the Mississippi State University Orchestra in Starkville.

Eddie was preceded in death by his parents, Rev. Wilson T. Miller, Sr., and Syble Daniels Miller; and his son, Matthew Lindsey Miller.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Sarah Diane Miller; son, Edward Owen Miller, Jr. (Hollie) of Gulfport; brother, W. Ted Miller (Beverly) of Morgan City, LA; grandson, Henry Miller of Saucier; and granddaughter, Lindsey Akers of Nashville, TN.

The family thanks Don Hammack, Sports Information Director at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, for his contributions to the obituary.

The family is eternally grateful to the healthcare professionals who cared for Eddie with compassion and dedication, including Dr. Douglas Lanier, Dr. Paul Muller, Shawn Beeson and all the nurses at the North Gulfport Clinic, and Fresenius Kidney Care on West Railroad. A thanks is also extended to the Gulfport Fire Department, Station 7.

A visitation will be held from 9:30 AM-11:00 AM, Monday, May 5, 2025, at Trinity Methodist Church, Gulfport, funeral service will begin at 11:00 AM, interment will follow at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, 2615 25th Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501 or to Trinity Methodist Church, 5007 Lawson Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39507.

Riemann Family Funeral Home, Gulfport, is honored to serve the Miller family.