Miller survives plane crash, returns to teaching and calls Madison ‘home’
MADISON – Madison is smaller than other towns where Kathy Miller has lived but is reminiscent of her childhood home on Whitmarsh Island, a barrier island near Savannah, Ga.
On Whitmarsh Island, “everyone knows everyone and looks out for each other,” Kathy said.
Kathy left Savannah to attend Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. She taught high school students in special education in Savannah, while operating a health club business with husband Bill. They moved to Chattanooga to start a banking/SBA loan business.
However, Kathy returned to teaching after an airplane accident. “Bill was flying us back to Chattanooga from Savannah in our small four-seater plane. One propeller blade broke off in flight. We crash landed in North Georgia and were taken to the hospital, both with crushed vertebrae and paralyzed,” Miller said.
“After extensive surgery, metal rods in our backs and a very long rehab, we both regained our ability to walk and work,” Miller said. Afterwards, Bill received a commendation from the FAA for making a controlled forced landing under exceptional conditions that saved the lives of the passengers on board — Bill and Kathy Miller and his two daughters.
The Millers moved to Madison in 1986 for a loan developing business in Huntsville. “At first, I asked my husband, ‘What’s in Alabama?’ but once we got here, I fell in love with the area. Madison is a wonderful, family-friendly and family-oriented city,” Kathy said.
Kathy and Bill built a home in Madison, and once her two children were school age, she lost interest in the business and wanted to return to teaching. She earned her Alabama teaching certification from Athens State University and began teaching first-graders in 1998 at West Madison Elementary School. Miller also taught reading and math to fourth-graders before becoming a full-time, assistant principal at West Madison in October 2004.
Her daughter Candace, an Alabama graduate, lives in Cincinnati with her husband and two children. Her son Clay of Madison, an Auburn graduate, runs an online business. Kathy has two stepdaughters — Susan of Atlanta and Helen of Orlando. Now retired, Bill works with Clay developing their online business.
Kathy has three grandsons and one granddaughter, ages 11, 5, 4 and almost 2.
Most of Kathy’s volunteer work revolves around school. She continues to work with after-school students.
In 2014, she started “The Mitten Tree,” a Christmas service project with the after-school group to collect mittens, hats, gloves and scarfs. These donations go to Downtown Rescue Mission and Hope Place through Crisis Services of North Alabama. “I got the idea after reading the book, ‘The Mitten Tree’ by Candace Christiansen,” Kathy said.
She supports school fundraisers for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, gifts for adopted student families and West Madison’s carnival and after-school/weekend events.
Her favorite music is county/Christian recordings by artists like Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Faith Hill, Randy Travis and Blake Shelton.
Kathy likes to lunch at Applebee’s with colleagues on teacher workdays. The Millers enjoy Main Street Cafe, ordering Chinese and Papa Murphy’s Pizza.
