Miller (Mikesell), Betsey Jane
Betsey Jane Miller
July 4, 1940 - May 6, 2025
Betsey passed away peacefully on May 6, 2025. She was born on July 4, 1940 to Ralph Henry Mikesell and Nancy Jane Mikesell of Eaton, Ohio. She was valedictorian of Eaton High School in 1958, and was graduated with honors by Miami University in 1962, majoring in history and minoring in library science. She married David G. Miller in 1962. Betsey was a librarian, first with the Dayton Library and later with the Springboro City Schools after her children were of school age. She worked with the Springboro Schools for twenty-nine years, first with children in kindergarten through third grade and then with junior high students. She was well-loved by the children of both age groups, and her students were often taken under her wing. Children were the focus of her life; besides her work with children as a librarian, she taught Sunday School from the age of 12 into her seventies, almost twenty years of that time acting as the Sunday School superintendent of the Springboro United Church of Christ. Music was of great importance to Betsey; she played French horn in high school, then at Miami in the marching band and in the orchestra, and later in the Centerville Community Band, for which she served as the music librarian during almost all of the thirty-five years of her time with the band. She will be greatly missed and always well-loved.
Betsey was preceded in death by her husband, David Gareth Miller, and son-in-law Joseph Kratzer. She is survived by two brothers, Richard Mikesell and David Mikesell, daughters Susan and Melissa Renner, son Daniel Miller, grandsons Josh Miller and Jacob Miller (Britney), granddaughters Laura Renner and Logan Miller, and six great-grandchildren.