Ed Miller

By Walt Frank

wfrank@altoonamirror.com

Eddie Miller is being remembered as a top-notch athlete and an astute businessman.

Miller, 75, of Altoona, died Thursday at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.

An outstanding athlete, Miller was named to the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2020 but was never officially inducted as the ceremony was postponed three times due to the coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for April 9.

Miller’s sons said their father was excited about being honored.

“He was really looking forward to being inducted. In the hospital last week, he said he wanted to rewrite his speech,” Ryan Miller said.

“My dad was real excited. He was real excited that other people were excited for him, even more excited than him,” Patrick Miller said.

Neil Rudel, Hall of Fame president, said Miller is the first inductee in the Hall’s history to pass away before the induction.

“We are deeply saddened for Eddie and his family and offer our condolences,” Rudel said. “He was universally loved in the community. We will honor him posthumously, and while of course that won’t be the same, his great legacy as a basketball player at Bishop Guilfoyle and Ole Miss will still be recognized and forever enshrined.”

Mike Irwin was a teammate of Miller’s on the basketball and football teams at Bishop Guilfoyle High School.

“He was the quarterback on the football team and shooting guard on the basketball team,” Irwin said. “As a quarterback he had a good arm, and he was one of the best shooters to come out of this area. Eddie played in a lot of the local leagues and was still outstanding up until close to 60.

“He was a great guy, a great teammate and a better person. He always had a smile on his face and a great sense of humor. I never saw him down.”

Miller was a two-year starter (1966-68) for the University of Mississippi after graduating from BG in 1964. He still holds BG’s single-game scoring record of 50 points. He was Blair County’s first scholarship basketball player to what is now a Power-5 conference.

While at Mississippi, Miller faced the challenge of guarding the late Pete Maravich of LSU, the all-time NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points and an average of 44.2 points per game.

“He told me his claim to fame in college was holding Pete Maravich to only 40 points,” said long-time friend Barry Wright.

Another long-time friend, Vince Nedimyer, said he and Miller grew up in the same neighborhood.

“He was such a good guy,” Nedimyer said. “He could light up the room. I never saw him get mad. His whole personality was to live every day and have fun. He will be sorely missed by a lot of people.”

Miller, long-time owner of McMullen Furniture in Juniata, was also known as a good and generous businessman.

Under Miller, McMullen Furniture provided its own financing for its customers.

“He was one of the most wonderful, nicest guys I ever met. He had a heart of gold. I can remember my parents bought a house and did not have enough money (for furniture). He told them they could pay monthly and that was fine,” said Bill Thompson Jr. “He was a true gentleman. What he meant to Juniata, he was everything. McMullen Furniture was where you went to buy your furniture.”

“He was a great friend, a great family man and a great guy,” Wright said. “He was a very astute businessman and with McMullen Furniture he had a fantastic business in Juniata. He helped people who didn’t have the money. He carried a lot of people on the books. He was very good at taking care of his customers and he always welcomed new customers.”

Friend and golfing buddy Terry Ianuzzi said Miller was a self-made man.

“He started at the store in high school and later bought it from his uncle and grew it,” Ianuzzi said. “He did a lot of business. He gave credit to a lot of people and did a lot of things behind the scenes.”

Miller is survived by his wife, Susan; three children: Erin, Ryan and Patrick; two granddaughters; and two brothers, Michael and Patrick.

Visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 806 11th St. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at the church at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

For full obituary, please see Page A4.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467