David Burrell Miller

1950 - 2023

David Burrell Miller
December 10, 1950 - April 24, 2023
Granite Bay, California - Dr. David Burrell Miller, D.D.S. (December 10, 1950 - April 24, 2023). Born in Peoria, Illinois to Elwyn and Elizabeth Miller (nee Burrell), as the second of two children and only son, David grew up in Peoria (1950-1952 & 1959-1969) and Spokane, Washington (1952-1959). David graduated from Richwoods High School in Peoria, Illinois in 1969. David earned his undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis in 1973, a master's degree from the University of Illinois in 1978, and his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1980.
While a student at Northern Illinois in DeKalb, David met the love of his life, Margaret "Sybil" Pribyl. David was a graduate student lab instructor, and Sybil, a returning student, was enrolled in his Biology 100 class. The pair remained a couple even after David moved to Chicago to begin dental school and Sybil, in turn, moved with her family to Moraga, California in 1978.
While in Moraga, David called Sybil, told her he loved her, missed her, and could not live without her, and so David and Sybil would reunite in Chicago, where they were married on August 26, 1979 at the Chicago Theological Seminary, before returning permanently to California in 1980. The couple were inseparable for the 41 years of their marriage before Sybil succumbed to cancer in 2021. The couple had three children: son Rory, born 1981 in Berkeley, California; son Kyle, born 1983 in Roseville, California; and daughter Kelli, born 1988 in Roseville, California.
David was especially proud of his children and could never resist an opportunity to tell others about each of them. He would regale people with stories about Rory's academic and legal careers. He loved to recount his younger son Kyle's exploits as a collegiate rugby player for San Diego State-something he was so proud of that he would continue to coach the freshman Rugby team at Jesuit High School for years after his sons graduated. And he frequently boasted about how his only daughter, Kelli, had followed him into the dental profession as a hygienist and was the mother of his beloved grandson Jordan.
David and his family moved to Roseville in 1982 following his purchase of a dental practice. This practice, originally located in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood, relocated to western Roseville in 2001, where David practiced for the remainder of his career. The number of lifelong patients, many of whom became friends, is a testament to David's commitment to caring not only for teeth, but the whole person.
David was a "dentist's dentist," heavily involved in education and furthering the profession. Throughout his career, his sought to keep on the cutting edge of dentistry, accumulating a lengthy list of professional honors and accomplishments such as being named a Master at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, a Master of the Academy of General Dentistry, a member of the Sacramento District Dental Society (where he had served on both the Peer Review and Ethics committees), the American Board of Forensic Dentistry (where he was a past Executive Board member), and the International College of Cranio-Mandibular Orthopedics, among many other professional honors and organizations.
David enjoyed that he was able to reach hundreds of other dentists through multiple published academic articles and his teaching numerous courses on the diagnosis and treatment of TMJ problems, management of orofacial pain, and forensic dentistry. In more recent years, David was a nationally recognized expert witness on professional standards of care, testifying in cases across the country in dental malpractice cases, both on behalf of patients who received substandard care, and on behalf of dentists who were falsely accused of malpractice.
David retired from the active practice of dentistry that he loved so much in 2020 during Sybil's battle with cancer. During this period, he became an active parishioner of Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale, forming a bond with a circle of friends and becoming active in the parish's various ministries for the needy. David's retirement was further enriched by spending as much time as he could with his grandson Jordan and looking forward to the birth of granddaughter in July. A lifelong golfer, at the time of his passing, David had been an active member at Sierra View Country Club for almost four decades.
David was predeceased by his parents and his wife of 41 years Margaret Sybil Miller. David is survived by his three children, sons Rory (Christina) Miller of Altadena, Kyle David Miller of South San Francisco, and Kelli (Stephen) Lanzi of Roseville, as well as his grandson Jordan Lanzi. David is also survived by his elder sister Helen (Edwin) Woerner of Lyndon, Kansas and her two daughters, Elke Riedlecker of Topeka, Kansas and Eva (Jesse) Riedlecker-Wolfe of Corvallis, Oregon, as well as his in-laws: mother-in-law Patricia A. Pribyl of Moraga, brothers-in-law Thomas (Eileen) Pribyl of South Carolina, and Matthew (Laura) Pribyl of San Diego, and sisters-in-law Patricia F. Pribyl of Moraga and Rita Pribyl of Bettendorf, Iowa. David also leaves behind too many friends to list.
A Mass and Interment Ceremony, where David will join Sybil side-by-side in the columbarium, is planned for Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Citrus Heights on June 3, 2023 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in David's name to Global Dental Relief (globaldentalrelief.org) or to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue (https://placercf.org/gold-country-wildlife-rescue-fund/).