ANDREW MILLER

1932 - 2021

MILLER ANDREW PICKENS MILLER Andrew Pickens Miller, 88, died at his home in Georgetown, July 2, 2021. Born on December 21,1932, in Washington to Col. Francis Pickens Miller and Helen Hill Miller, who had married at the University of Oxford (England); he entered as a Rhodes Scholar; she, a Bryn Mawr alumna, as one of the first American women students. Returning to the US after working in Switzerland, Helen heard that an historic Fairfax tavern was about to be demolished, hired two large trucks and a work crew, dismantled the structure and hauled the materials two miles to the Millers land near Oakton. Using the salvaged materials, Helen created the home the Millers named Pickens Hill, now the main building at Flint Hill School. Francis Pickens served in the House of Delegates in Virginia and fought a monumental 1952 gubernatorial battle against the segregationist Byrd machine which advocated "massive resistance". Joining the US State Department in the Kennedy Administration, Francis became a part of the historic New Frontier of American policy. Helen, a distinguished journalist and prolific author, wrote the report of President Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women and, with Esther Peterson and Elizabeth Dole, was in the first group of distinguished women admitted to the historically all male Cosmos Club. The accomplishments and character of these parents set a high bar for their two sons. Andy attended St. Albans School, graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1950 and Princeton in 1954, where his illustrious class included Paul Sarbanes, William Hudnut and Donald Rumsfeld. Graduating magna cum laude, Andy was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa, was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army, then completed a two-year deployment to Korea. After postgraduate study at Oxford's New College, he entered the University of Virginia School of Law with the class of 1960. Elected to Order of the Coif, he served as editor in chief of the Virginia Law Review. In Abingdon, Virginia, he joined Penn Stuart and threw himself into extensive community and public service. In 1969 Andy was elected to the first of his two terms as Virginia's Attorney General. His successful reorganization and modernization of the office became a model for attorneys general offices countrywide. His merit- based hiring practices created diversity at a time where most attorneys general offices were staffed primarily by white males. He was elected president of the National Association of Attorneys General and was selected for the Kelly- Wyman Award, which honors the nation's most outstanding attorney general. He gave dedicated service to the legal profession as Chairman of the Young Lawyers Section of the Virginia Bar Association, member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and in many other leadership roles. Andy, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully against Henry Howell in the 1977 gubernatorial primary race and in 1978 as the Democratic nominee, lost a historically close US Senate race against the unbeatable combination of Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner, who later sought Andy's counsel about judicial vacancies. Andy's lengthy record of community service includes his creation of the John Marshall Foundation and the successful effort to raise funds to restore Marshall's Richmond home, his term as Secretary General of the Society of the Cincinnati, membership in the Virginia Standing Committee of the Society of the Cincinnati and service on the Board of Directors of the National Maritime Heritage Foundation. He practiced law in Washington with the firms Dickstein Shapiro, Powell Goldstein, and Hunton & Williams. He leaves behind dear friends, many of whom were comrades in arms in legal battles during his 60+ years of practice. He is survived by Julia Thomas (of Chicago); Elise Miller (Whidbey WA), his daughters with the late Doris Brown. He was preceded in death by their son Pickens Miller and by brother Robert Day Miller. He leaves his wife of 30 years Penelope Farthing of Washington; twin children, Winfield (Washington) and Lucia (Charlotte, NC). The family gratefully acknowledges Dr. Dennis Murphy's compassionate friendship and superb medical care as well as the unfailingly kindness of the Murphy staff and colleagues at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital through Mr. Miller's protracted illness. A private service will precede burial at the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in Lexington VA. Gifts may be sent in memory of Andrew Pickens Miller to St. Anselm's Abbey School, 4501 South Dakota Avenue NE, Washington DC 20017, or to the John Marshall Foundation at 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd, Richmond, VA, 23219.