Christian John Miller III
July 4, 1937-Dec. 29, 2023
Pleasanton, California
Chris Miller III was born in 1937 in the state of Connecticut and raised in a small town called New Canaan. He attended New Canaan's public schools and graduated from New Canaan High School. For his "senior prediction" Chris' classmates said that "Chris was most likely to star in a revival of Bob Hope's Casanova's Big Night". After graduating High School, he moved to Philadelphia, PA to attend the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. At the Wharton School, Chris received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a focus on Transportation. While in College, Chris participated in R.O.T.C, and after graduation was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. In the Army, Chris discovered a great love for flying, and in particular flying Helicopters. In 1962, Chris successfully completed the Army's Helicopter Flight School. From 1963 through 1964, Chris flew combat missions in the Republic of South Vietnam. In 1965, Chris was redeployed to the Dominican Republic, where he continued to fly combat missions for the Army. July 1965 saw Chris' departure from the regular Army, and a relocation to San Francisco, CA. From his arrival in 1965, and until its closure in 1976, Chris was an S-61N helicopter captain with SFO Helicopter Airlines. With SFO Helicopter Chris flew helicopters transiting between the SFO Airport and the Oakland Airport, specifically the "Bee-Line" helicopter, famous for its "Bee" Livery. As well, once in the Bay Area, Chris continued to serve with the Army Reserve for another 22 years. After 27 years in the armed forces, both regular and reserve, Chris retired from service in 1987 as a Lieutenant Colonel, having accumulated over 10,000 hours of Civilian and Military flight time.
With the closure of SFO Helicopter Airlines, Chris decided it was time to put his college degree to work. And because he had always been told by others that he would be good in a sales position, he made a move into Real Estate. In 1977 Chris entered the profession with a local independent real estate firm. After studying and hard work, Chris attained his real estate broker's license. Chris' motto since the start of his career was always "100% effort 100% of the time". This determination helped him weather difficult times in the real estate market, and enjoy the upturns. As a real estate agent, Chris was always working to improve his skills and achieved many designations: Graduate Realtor Institute (1978), Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (1981), Certified Residential Specialist (1988), and Seniors Real Estate Specialist (2002). Throughout his career Chris was a mentor to many new real estate agents, and enjoyed helping others on their way to helping others find their new home.
While living in San Francisco, Chris met Marty and soon after they were married in 1967. After living in San Francisco for a few years, Chris & Marty decided to move to the East Bay to start a family. They moved to Pleasanton in 1971. While in Pleasanton, Chris continuously contributed to Pleasanton, specifically via his participation with the Rotary Club of Pleasanton, which he served as President from 1986-87. During his tenure as President, Chris led the Rotary project to add blue reflectors to fire hydrant locations throughout the city. This earned him the title of "Colonel Blue Dot" with his fellow Rotarians. The dishonorable treatment of veterans coming home from the Vietnam war left a lasting impression on Chris and he made it his passion to never let our veterans be treated that way again, so in 1990-91 Chris put together a letter writing campaign for local troops, which led to his appointment as co-chairman of the Pleasanton Support Group for all the troops from Pleasanton deployed to Desert Shield/Desert Storm during the Gulf War. In 2003, Chris helped start and became Chairman of the Pleasanton Military Families Support Group to support local troops and their families, involved with Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq). Still to this day If you drive down Main St. you will see yellow ribbons hanging from the lights, each with the name of a current Pleasanton native that is serving in the Armed Forces. This was one of the many lasting impacts Chris Miller had on the community.
As humble as Chris was giving back to Pleasanton over five decades-plus, community leaders certainly noticed. His list of accolades stands second to none: Mayor’s Award in 2020, Ed Kinney Community Patriot Award in 2020, Pleasanton Weekly’s Man of the Year in 2009 and one of our inaugural Tri-Valley Heroes (2012: Community Spirit).
Chris is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marty Miller, his three sons, Christian Miller IV, Jason Miller and Michael Miller. His Sister Caroline Sprich, Brothers Arnold and Doug Miller. Daughter In-Laws Adrienne, Alison and Jenna. Grandchildren, Lilly, CJ, Ashton, Maverick and Bodi.
Tags: veteran, public service
