Gerald Miller

Gerald Miller raises a spoon from his ice cream on a Friday night outing to Friendly’s, a family routine with his grandchildren.

ALBANY — Gerald Miller was a bricklayer with a keen eye and a deep heart.

Mr. Miller died at Cornerstone Hospice in The Villages, Florida, surrounded by his family on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. He was 75.

He was attached to his cats, of which he always had two that would rest on his stomach or in his lap. They layed on him even as he perused eBay for listings of trucks, his other love. He always owned an F-150 truck made by Ford.

“He liked his routines,” said his wife, Huberta Miller. “It was getting him there that was the hard part,” she said of the trips they shared with family.

Their weekly ritual of dining out involved a Friday meal at Bob and Ron’s Fish Fry in Albany, Saturday dinner at Grandma’s Pies in Colonie, and a Sunday breakfast at the Western Diner before watching National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing races. They met other couples at the restaurants or gathered with their friends for a night out.

He was a shy, gentle man who made sure to make time for talking over coffee with his friends, or ice cream when his grandchildren visited and ate while sitting in the back of his truck.

“He took good care of us,” his wife said.

“He was great,” his son, Gerald Miller, said of his father. “He worked all the time to make sure that we had what we needed.”

Mr. Miller worked for 12 years as a bricklayer, supplementing his pay with part-time work at gas stations on nights and weekends until he got a job working on bridge maintenance for the state’s Thruway Authority.

Mr. Miller retired from the Thruway Authority in 2001. A longtime member of the Westmere Fire Department, he continued to keep a scanner, even while in Florida.

He was a perfectionist, his family said. Their home projects ended up under his careful watch — painting a wall or remodeling a bathroom. Working on bridge maintenance appealed to him because he loved working outside and he continued to use his hands.

Mr. Miller was born on Dec. 11, 1939 in Rensselaerville, the son of the late Truesdell and Beryl (née Gifford) Miller. His father worked for General Electric in Schenectady.

He grew up in a rural community, spending time on a nearby farm and riding horses. Once hunting with a best friend as a teenager, Mr. Miller slipped and fell with his gun in hand, leaving him without the index finger on his left hand, his wife said.

Mr. Miller had an abiding appreciation for the beauty of old barns and traditional farm equipment as he traveled across the country.

He and his wife were married on July 27, 1962, and they had two children. They first met at an ice cream shop in East Berne.

“He was playing hard to get,” she said. “He was a very quiet person. He wasn’t interested, which made him a challenge, and I won.”

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Mr. Miller is survived by his wife, Huberta Miller; his son, Gerald Miller, and his daughter, Suzanne Ascher and her husband, Daniel; his granddaughters, Rebecca and Jamie Ascher; his brother, Truesdell Miller, and his wife, Carol; his sisters, Linda Miller and Joanne Trischetta; his brother, William Miller, and his wife, Karen; and the extended Miller family related to his wife, Huberta.

A funeral was held on Feb. 27 at the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont. Interment will be in the spring at Woodlawn Cemetery, Berne.

Mourners may leave condolences at www.fedendallfuneralhome.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Foundation, Northeastern New York Chapter, 950 New Loudon Road, Suite 330, Latham, New York 12110.

— Marcello Iaia

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