Loye Wheat Miller Jr., was born in Knoxville and he chose interment here following his death on February 17, 2023, at his retirement community in Delaware. A memorial service will be held at Rose Mortuary, 6200 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, on Wednesday, March 8, at 1 p.m. with interment at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery.
Mr. Miller earned degrees from Dartmouth and Columbia School of Journalism in New York City. As a reporter for Time/Life he was a member of the White House Press Corps. He later held top jobs during Republican administrations and then ended his career in corporate communications. His full obituary is here.
His connection to Knoxville comes through his father, Loye W. Miller Sr., co-founder of the Knoxville News, which became the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
In 1921, Scripps-McRae Newspapers (now Scripps Howard) asked Evansville Press (a Scripps-McRae paper) editor Edward J. Meeman to go to Knoxville to launch a new newspaper, the Knoxville News. Meeman enlisted Miller to help him, and in 1921 they, along with three others, founded the News.
Miller Sr. worked in management at the News and News-Sentinel for 45 years during which time he championed the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and led efforts for desegregation in the 1960s. He also pushed for the legal sale and control of alcoholic beverages.
Learn more about Miller Sr. here.
Both men had distinguished careers in newspapering. Miller Sr.’s legacy in Knoxville is unsurpassed.