Rita Miller

Rita Miller, a lifelong nurse and devoted member of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, died on December 18, 2025, in Middletown, New York. She was 87 years old. Born on February 28, 1938, in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, Rita was the daughter of the late Alfred P. Imperato and Emma Louise Imperato. She married Edward F. Miller on June 11, 1960, in Queens, NY. Together, they made their home in Bullville, New York, where they raised their family. If you wanted to understand her, you only had to watch her with people.
Rita grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, above her father's medical practice, where extended family lived close and care was practiced daily. She watched him make house calls. She learned how presence heals. The rest followed naturally. She became a nurse, a calling she lived every day of her life. Her career moved easily from maternity wards to private nursing, from leading a nursing home to sitting quietly with hospice patients, where she volunteered for more than a decade-exactly where she was meant to be.
Her twin sister, Alice, was her first and lifelong best friend-two lives moving in steady parallel, always tethered, their days stitched together by daily phone calls later in life.
She met and fell in love with Ed through letters while he served in the army in Germany-carefully written, saved forever. They built a partnership defined by mutual devotion. Hands held. Tea served nightly on a tray, each in their familiar place on the couch. Going out to dinner was an occasion, not fancy, just chosen, always worth dressing up for. A shared life made up of small, meaningful rituals.
They moved to Bullville, the perfect place to raise five children, and settled into an old white farmhouse on five acres that would be home for more than 46 years. There, her flower gardens bloomed generously, bird feeders turned windows into living paintings, and a sun porch filled with carefully tended orchids became her refuge. She adored her thirteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, calling them all her Sweeties. Her wooden spoon was legendary, not because she ever needed it, but because the idea of it made everyone laugh. Thanksgiving was their holiday, everyone coming home, one long table, and a house that never felt too small. Her faith was active and enduring. For years at Saint Paul's, she served as a Eucharistic minister, organized holiday food baskets, and hosted parishioners at senior luncheons, even as she herself became a senior.
Rita was one of those quietly extraordinary people who never sought attention yet became the center of her family. A calming presence. An unhurried heart. A natural caregiver whose steady love made everything feel more grounded, more generous, and more whole for all those lucky enough to know her. And in the end, surrounded by her Sweeties, she left the way she lived-loving fully.
Rita is survived by her five children: Elizabeth Haupt and her fiancée, Bill Borg, of East Haddam, CT; Thomas Miller of Boise, ID; Edward Miller and his wife, Amparo Trunik, of Las Vegas, NV; John Miller and his wife, Elizabeth Miller, of Rockford, MI; and David Miller and his wife, Carrie Miller, of Bellevue, WA. She is also survived by her brother, Tony Imperato, of Canandaigua, NY.
She is further survived by her thirteen grandchildren: Aimee Haupt and her partner, Jack Bullock; Alycia Kelsey and her husband, Daniel Kelsey; Christian Haupt; Kate Stap and her husband, Joseph Stap; Thomas Miller Jr. and his wife, Sharon Miller; Emily Miller and her husband, Marcelo Forest; Christina Miller and her partner, Marie Keller; Jack Miller and his fiancée, Cayla Scott; Sam Miller; Katelyn Miller; Abby Miller; Grace Miller; and Michael Miller. She is also survived by her five great-grandchildren, Blake, Rachael, Avalon, Colton, and Hunter, as well as many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family members. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 58 years, Edward F. Miller, and her twin sister, Alice Caruso of Long Island, NY.
Visitation will be held on Monday, December 29, 2025, from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm at Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, Inc., 130 Highland Avenue, Middletown, NY 10940.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 30, 2035, at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 2800 Route 17K, Bullville, NY 10916. Cremation will be private, and burial of her ashes will take place alongside her husband at Orange County Veterans Cemetery at a later date.