Brian Neal Miller, 72, recently of Reston, Virginia, passed away on Wednesday morning, June 5th. Brian was born July 25th, 1951 in Washington, DC, to Gay Handleman Miller & Warren Miller. He was the older brother to Gary Miller, Elise Miller, and Nancy Reynolds.

Family was the most important thing to him. He met his future wife in Geometry class at Montgomery Blair High School. In between attending live concerts, taking trips to downtown Silver Spring Hot Shoppes for a Mighty Mo (their signature hamburger) and an orange freeze, he dedicated himself to his job as a reporter while studying at Montgomery College and working as a photographer. He married his sweetheart, Beth, in 1974 at Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring. Their first of four children, Matthew, was born in 1977, soon followed by Laura in 1980, Carly in 1983, and completed the family with Asher in 1989.

Once he became a grandfather to Carly and Tommy Carothers's children, he could be found watching train videos with grandsons Josiah and Jackson, being a medical patient for imaginary checkups with granddaughter Kyla, and chasing them around the house with appearances by 'Mr. Hand' to entertain and delight. He could also be found reading them books way past everyone's bedtime. Somehow, the kids never complained.

The defining moment in Brian's life came in 1972. While working at a health food store in Georgetown with Beth, he was introduced to the concept of a relationship with Yeshua. This connection had a transformative effect on his life. That connection allowed him to follow a dream to live in Israel for just over a year and maintain a lifelong passion for its people, and led to Brian and Beth moving to Kansas City to live with an intentional community of believers until 1981.

Brian's 'superpower' was his compassion for everyone he interacted with. He made friends and shared jokes with every restaurant server he met with the goal of making them feel special, that they mattered, and that their job made a difference not just to him but to God. His ministry field was around him at all times, which gave rise to many unexpected and deep conversations.

His social time was filled with reading and research, chief among them JFK, the American Civil War, space, and sports. He was a lifelong Redskins fan, and, in recent years, the Nationals and Capitals became required viewing. Yearly trips to the beach, watching his children's school plays, sporting events, and musical performances, and seeing grandchildren later do the same were joys not to be missed.

His death leaves a hole in our family that will not be filled in this lifetime. We, his family, appreciate everything you, our community, has done to support us during this time. Thank you for joining us today, for all you have done over the last week, and will do in the future.