Gerald L. Miller, M.D., 88, passed peacefully into the arms of God on Sept. 10, 2025. Gerald was kind-hearted, conscientious and unflappable; a civic-minded physician much loved by family, friends, former medical colleagues and former patients. His life passion was to serve God by serving others, and that desire knew no bounds and no borders.
Born Aug. 12, 1937, Gerald was the son of Perry J. Miller and Olive Lucile Miller. He grew up on a farm near Shipshewana, Indiana, in a Mennonite family with a strong lineage of teachers, farmers and mission workers. During his high school years, he raised calves for 4-H, played guard for his school’s basketball team, worked as school janitor and painted houses and barns with his father. He also dated a classmate, Mary Mishler, whom he married while in his second year of premed at Goshen College.
After graduating from Indiana University School of Medicine, Gerald set up a family practice with his medical partner, Dr. Lee Kinzer, in the small town of Markle. For 42 years, he worked in this largely rural area south of Fort Wayne. During this time, Gerald regularly made house calls to those unable to come to the office and developed community home health care and hospice services. To provide better emergency care for his patients, he helped his community develop the first rural EMT and paramedic services in Northeast Indiana. “Making the Rounds: Memoirs of a Small-Town Doctor” (Booklocker, 2015) is Gerald’s love letter to the town of Markle.
From 1971-72, Gerald and Mary, along with their three children spent a year of service with Eastern Mennonite Mission Board in Somalia, East Africa. Gerald recounts this year in his memoir, “A Hundred Camels” (Cascadia, 2009). Over the course of 32 years, he also made 25 trips to Project Help in Haiti. There, with the effort of other doctors in his medical practice and support from the Churches of God, he helped establish a medical clinic and then a hospital.
In 2006, Gerald and Mary moved to Westfield, Indiana, where for years Gerald enjoyed gardening, reading, golfing, playing card games, working on puzzles and watching IU and Pacer basketball. He and Mary liked to travel, often with friends from their church, First Mennonite of Indianapolis.
Parkinson’s Disease slowed Gerald down, but Mary’s loving care was a constant through difficult times. They celebrated their 69th anniversary on Aug. 25, 2025.
Gerald was preceded in death by his sister, Jewel (Leon) Schlatter.
Surviving family members include his wife, Mary Miller; his children, Shari (Charles) Wagner, Marlis (Michael Northern) Miller and Stephen (Deanna Baker) Miller; his sister, Sally Jo (Ron) Milne; grandchildren, Shea (Kelly) Castle, Kyle (Kara) Castle, Vienna (Adrian) Bottomley, Alexander Miller and Iona Wagner; great-grandchildren, Penelope Castle, Max Castle, Arthur Bottomley, Alden Bottomley and Alice Bottomley. Gerald was also the beloved uncle of many nieces and nephews.
A remembrance service will be held at Marion Christian Fellowship, Shipshewana, Indiana, Saturday, Oct. 18, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation: www.parkinson.org.
To leave the family an online condolence, please visit the Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Funeral Home website.