Donovan Francis Miller
1917-1997

Donovan, the oldest son in the Bernard West Miller, family, was born in 1917. During World War II he served with the Seaforth Highlanders and the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in the Atlantic and European Theatres.

After the war he received a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of British Columbia in 1947 and then went to work for the Canadian Fishing Company in Vancouver, later becoming its Chairman of the Board and President. In the 1950s he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Donovan gave generously of his time, working with Canadian and Japanese fishery organizations. He was active in the Boy Scouts of Canada, serving as president of the National Council from 1978 to 1980 and receiving the Silver Wolf, an award for service of the most exceptional character to Scouting. He was active in his alumni association, elected president in 1960 and Chancellor in 1975. Those who knew him described him as modest, warm, dignified, confident and outgoing.

Donovan married Katherine Mary "Kay" Gordon, his high-school sweetheart, and the only child of William and Mabel Gordon, in 1942. Kay had a nursing degree from the University of Alberta. They were stationed in Nova Scotia during World War II and, while there, she worked as a member of the Victorian Order of Nurses in Halifax. Donovan and Kay had four children.

Donovan is the Miller family descendant who compiled the family pedigree with notes from his mother and his uncle, Admiral Francis spurstow Miller. Donovan died in 1997 and Kay in 2009. Kay is buried in the Garden of Remembrance, St. Mary's Church, Kerrisdale.

Related Links
Bernard West Miller family, 1935, Vancouver
Bernard West Miller family, 1952, Vancouver
Francis Benjamin Miller, 1838-1901, son of Joseph Dundas Miller
Bernard West Miller
The Miller family

The photo of Donovan Miller was taken in 1979 by Hope Healy Koontz.