Cleveland Bishop emeritus Anthony Pilla remembers getting a phone call from Sam Miller shortly after his Jan. 6, 1981 installation as bishop. That call marked the beginning of a long friendship between the well-known Cleveland philanthropist and developer -- who was Jewish -- and the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
“He told me we needed to meet, so we set a time, he came over, had breakfast and we talked. He said we needed to know each other in order to work together,” Bishop Pilla said.
And they did work together for many years throughout Bishop Pilla’s tenure, which ended with his retirement on May 15, 2005. However, Miller’s philanthropy to the diocese continued.
Miller, a generous benefactor of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland, and Catholic schools – primarily in Cleveland’s inner city -- died on March 7 at age 97.
He leaves a legacy of good throughout the community, including the diocese, which honored him with the first Archbishop Edward F. Hoban Award in 1993 and again at the 2015 Alleluia Ball with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his generous contributions to diocesan schools.
At the time, Miller was asked what makes Catholic education so special.
“It’s the education,” he said. “Catholic education for me is the reason that the Catholic Church will be more viable and stronger in the next 20 years. The schools teach moral values and continue to have a strong graduation rate. Catholic education stands head and shoulders above every other form of education that we have in this country, and the cost is approximately 10 percent less when compared to what the public system pays out for education,” he added.
Miller also recalled accompanying Bishop Pilla to visit some inner-city schools. During one visit to a school that had undergone some remodeling that included carpeting, one little boy asked what they were walking on.
“He had never seen carpeting before. I understood this question because I grew up in poverty,” Miller said.
When asked what motivated his philanthropy, Miller said it was his parents, who were immigrants from Poland and Russia, where there was a great divide between Catholics and Jews.
“Bishop Pilla and I did a lot to bring the Catholic and Jewish communities closer. In my life, I just wanted people to be nice and I wanted to do good with what I had,” Miller said.
When asked how he would describe his late friend, Bishop Pilla used a six-letter Hebrew word: hineni. “I think that explains Sam Miller the best. It was the answer that Moses and the ancient prophets always gave the Lord whenever they were called to do his bidding. Hineni means no matter how arduous the task, how difficult the calling, how pressed for time you may be, always answer hineni – I am ready to help.”
The bishop said that was Miller’s creed, “his very religion all his life – to give help to everyone who needed it. I never went to Sam with a genuine human need when he did not respond with hineni – how can I help?”
He said Miller didn’t have to wait long for his reward because he saw it in “the smile of the sick, the look of hope from the poor, the momentary happiness of the unfortunate.”
Bishop Pilla also fondly recalled the special relationship Miller had with his late mother, Libera Pilla.
“He would come over every Sunday morning with bagels and coffee. They would stand in her kitchen, hand in hand, her saying Catholic prayers and he would say Jewish prayers. Then they enjoyed the bagels and coffee,” Bishop Pilla said. “What Sam and I had as friends I only wish that everyone could find with another person from a different faith.”
Father Joseph Hilinski, who heads the diocesan interfaith office, credits Miller with helping to start the annual Sam Miller Catholic-Jewish Colloquium that takes place each spring. Established in 1988, it is one of the longest-running interfaith programs of its kind, attracting prominent Catholic and Jewish speakers and fostering an exchange of ideas.
Bishop Pilla said he and Miller didn’t always see eye-to-eye and Miller wasn’t afraid to speak bluntly to his friend, but they had a mutual respect.
“He was always the first to visit when I was sick,” the bishop recalled, “and I would do the same for him. He got to know the whole family and enjoyed sharing a meal with us. I don’t think it was possible for two men to respect and care for each other more than we did. Did we bring the Catholics and Jews to a similar relationship? Hardly, but I like to think that we brought some love and understanding on a personal level to the relations that have been strained for 2,000 years. I think that our God was pleased, the God of our common heritage, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God that Jesus preached.”
Bishop Nelson Perez also extended his sympathy to Miller’s family in a statement:
“Cleveland has lost a man who is best described as a servant leader, a man who worked tirelessly to help others and build bridges that brought people together throughout our community in friendship and dialogue. Sam was a dear friend of the Catholic community in Northeast Ohio as he was dedicated to help strengthen Catholic education in the diocese. Throughout his life Sam acted as a catalyst for cooperation between the Jewish and Christian communities. His generosity and philanthropy to our diocese – including Catholic schools, seminaries and Catholic Charities – has had a lasting impact. He will be deeply missed. May he rest in peace.”
“I pray that my friend now rests in peace in the presence of a loving God,” Bishop Pilla said.
Survivors include Miller’s wife, Maria, and four adult children.
