The Miller Family Collection

Francis L. Miller was born in Franklin, Massachusetts on February 9, 1896. In 1913, he began working in the treasurer's office at the College of the Holy Cross. He married Mary O'Brien Miller in 1922. They had two children, Rev. Francis X. Miller, SJ and Mary Miller Morse. Tragically, Mary Miller died in 1927 and is buried at St. John Cemetery in Worcester. In 1931, he became the first bursar of the College. He married Isabel Brosnan, a fellow employee at Holy Cross, the same year. Miller served as the College’s bursar until his death on January 21, 1961 at the age of 84. He also served as treasurer for the Holy Cross Athletics Association. Addtionally, Miller served as the Town of Auburn selectman from 1941 to 1946 and the town treasurer from 1953 to 1958. He is the only layman to be buried in the Holy Cross Jesuit Cemetery.

Rev. Francis X. Miller, SJ, Class of 1946, was born in Worcester on May 28, 1926. In 1942, he enrolled at Holy Cross. His College career was interrupted by World War II when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1944. He returned to Holy Cross in 1946 after being honorably discharged. After graduating in 1946, Fr. Miller worked for the Chase National Bank for four years before entering the Society of Jesus at the Jesuit Novitiate at Shadowbrook in Lenox, Massachusetts on August 14, 1951. He was in the same novice class as Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J.,who became the 25th President of Holy Cross. Fr. Miller received his Master of Science in business administration in 1956 and was ordained on June 13, 1959. In 1961, Fr. Miller returned to Holy Cross to fill the position of treasurer, which was once held by his father. Later, he became the treasurer of the New England Province and held this role for ten year before returning to Holy Cross to serve as the Vice President of Development in 1973. Fr. Miller held this position until his retirement in 1995. Upon retiring, Fr. Miller worked in the Development Office as Vice president Emeritus. In 2001, a well-attended appreciation night was held in his honor to celebrate his Golden Jubilee (50 years in the Society of Jesus) and his more than 40 years of service at Holy Cross. Fr. Miller died at the Campion Center in Weston, Massachusetts, on November 25, 2008. He was 82.

Mary Miller Morse was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on May 7, 1923. She was raised in Auburn and graduated from Ascension High School in Worcester. She received a bachelor's degree from Emmanuel College in Boston in 1945 and worked as a teacher and guidance counselor in public schools in Auburn and Holyoke until her retirement in 1982. Morse first lived in Falmouth as a summer employee of the Tower Hotel in Falmouth Heights in 1946. She remained a summer resident of Falmouth until 1982, when she married Frank J. Morse of Falmouth Height. He died in 1984. Morse died in Falmouth on November 26, 2017. She is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Falmouth.