RUSSELL BRYAN MILLER

Russell Bryan Miller matriculated from Bishops in 1988, from White House.

Russell's celebration of life service was held in the Bishops Chapel, conducted by the Reverend Monwabisi Peter, the College Chaplain.

The following is a tribute prepared by a friend of Russell, Wilbur Van Niekerk (1985K).

In Honour of Russell Miller.

"I met Russell in the early 2000s. He was always quietly one step ahead of the vocal people in any group, and his demeanour and deep thinking could disarm the fallacy in any flawed argument. He would ask the one question nobody else had thought of. If someone tried to reduce a decision to two options, Russell would push back with one or two more. Just to make a point. Without fail. With his trademark grin.

A family man, he was deeply involved in his family and paid special attention to his children's lives and in the shaping of their thinking. He chose to educate his sons at Bishops for a reason: he understood what education could mean for a life of value to society. (Gibraeel Miller Grade 10: Kidd House and Luke Grade 2).

He was easily one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He saw life in 4D, and lived to the beat of his own drum. He introduced me to more thought-provoking ideas than I can count, many of them drawn from his peculiar choice of reading material. He valued conceptual understanding over conventional rules, and that same refusal to follow convention showed in his manner and his dress.

His approach was maverick, with an enigmatic energy about the way he did things. Business meetings were never boring; client engagements were always entertaining. Russell would arrive at serious client meetings dressed in a t-shirt. On purpose. To disarm. To make his point. It worked. 

If he had thirty minutes for a quick coffee with somebody, he made those minutes count. Nothing was done by chance. Everything was done with deliberate intention.

That same intention carried into how he spoke. A passionate man of conviction, he was selective about what he said and to whom. If you were chosen for purposeful conversation, he engaged at a level that made every exchange intellectually challenging. He would pause after explaining a concept, punctuated by his customary "yes?" to make sure his words had hit the target. He spoke a great deal, but he always cut to the chase, never mincing his words, never willing to take things at face value. Always pushing for the ideals he held dear.

A man of deep trust in people, he valued commitment and demonstrated it through swift action. He had many pots on the boil at the same time. He would gleefully explain what the endpoint of each one would be. The process of tansformation gave him joy.

Creating equality in society was one of his highest ideals, and it showed in the way he did business. Money meant nothing to him except as a tool to reach a goal. His empathy for humankind drove his ingenuity.

That sense of equality was not abstract for him. It was rooted in his own upbringing. Russell sometimes spoke of his difficult childhood circumstances, and how his mother could not easily reconcile his attending Bishops. He once confided that at fourteen he went hungry for so long that he thought he would die. The story stayed with me; it said so much about this man. His formative years shaped his view of the world as a place of inequality that had to be changed for future generations, and it was an enduring theme as we explored conversations about business and life.

That same set of values carried into his board work: testing whether a stated principle was actually being lived. He served on many boards and committees, one of which was UWC. His sole aim, he said, was to test what their policies were and to make sure decision-making was policy-driven. Typical Russell. Always looking for the chink in the armour, the one thing that made the most difference.

That instinct for making a difference was visible right to the end. Russell's last engagement with me was to help the widow of a late business partner gain admission for her son to attend Bishops. He was always helping others, never concerned for his own wellbeing, never seeking accolades.

I have not yet processed what it will mean to not have my friend Russell around. But the fond memories I carry of him will help carry me for now."

Wilbur van Niekerk (1985K)

The ODU and Bishops communities send their deepest sympathies to Wahseema, Gibraeel and Luke. 

RIP Russell!

Requiescat in Pace.