Nancy May Miller, Nordonia educator, dies at 87

Nancy May Miller, the Northfield, Ohio, educator who spent four decades teaching kindergarten through second grade in the Nordonia School District, died on October 25, 2026, at the age of 87, whiznews.com reported.

Born November 2, 1938, to Donald and Marjorie Benfer, Miller graduated from Lakewood High School in 1957 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Muskingum College in 1961. She went on to devote 40 years to teaching young students in the Nordonia School District in Macedonia and Northfield, touching the lives of countless children and their families.

In 1988, the Nordonia PTA named her one of its Outstanding Educators. Even long after her retirement, former students and their parents frequently greeted her in the community, a lasting tribute to the influence she had on their lives.

Reading Aloud and Weaving Baskets After the Bell Rang

Miller’s devotion to children and learning continued beyond the classroom. She delighted in reading aloud to children from her vast collection of children’s books, passing on to them her love of stories and exploration. She was also a master at basket weaving, a craft that reflected her patience, creativity, and skill.

Sixty Years of Marriage and Service in Brecksville

A member of Brecksville United Methodist Church, she also served as Chaplain of her Daughters of the American Revolution chapter. She was married for more than 60 years to her husband, Robert Charles Miller, who preceded her in death.

Survivors, a Private Burial, and Books for the Next Generation

Surviving her are her daughter Heidi L. McGraw (née Miller), her son Michael Miller (Sandy), her grandson Maxwell McGraw of Michigan, her sister Margaret Clark (Larry) of Virginia, and her sister-in-law Janet Humes.

Burial services will be private, with interment at New Concord Cemetery in New Concord, Ohio. Rather than flowers, and to honor Miller’s lifelong commitment to children’s education and reading, donations can be directed to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that gives free books to young children and fosters a lifelong love of reading. Donors can select the option to make a donation in memory of someone and enter Nancy May Miller as the person being honored.

For a woman whose career spanned from Lakewood High School’s class of 1957 to four decades of first-graders in Nordonia classrooms, the measure of her life was never a single award in 1988 but the generations of readers she greeted on the street years after they left her class.

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