Kevin Corkery, husband of Fieg cousin Sarah Fieg Corkery, exchanged a wave of the hand with Mayor Dick Miller as the two passed each other at the bank Friday afternoon, never guessing for a moment that he would be among the last to see the city's chief executive.
Miller, 71, was found dead the next morning having shot himself to death with a .22-caliber pistol.. Police found a suicide note but have not revealed the contents.
"He had a serious look on his face and was somewhat distracted," Kevin said. "Maybe he was making plans for what he was going to do."
The community is in shock, with many grieving over the loss. Miller was a popular figure with a garrulous and effervescent personality.
In 2009 he became Oneonta’s 20th mayor for the first of two terms. He was a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran, Hartwick College President, SUNY Vice Chancellor, Vice President at the University of Rochester and President and CEO of Case-Hoyt Corporation.
Greg Fieg left a message at City Hall about a year ago concerning a minor traffic issue. A few days later he was surprised to receive a return phone call from Mayor Dick Miller. "I was amazed that he paid that much attention to detail," Greg said. "I have known many mayors - Roger Hughes, Sam Nader, Jim Lettis, Dave Brenner and so on, several of whom I counted among my friends. All of them were outstanding men who devoted much personal time to their community but none seemed to enjoy being mayor more than Dick Miller."
A service to celebrate the life of Mayor Miller will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
I believe this article misrepresents my comments. The "journalist" did not inform me that our conversation was to be used for publishing online. After I said "Maybe he was making plans for what he was going to do" I very specifically added that my memory of this interaction was most likely biased based on the the subsequent events (his suicide) that had occurred over the weekend. The conversation was also speckled with intermittent 'tongue-in cheek' dark humor initiated by said journalist (aka Greg). I could quote him here, but feel that the World Wide Web is too intrusive a place to disclose the contents of personal conversations.
Kevin Corkery
Post a Comment