When the Kelly Barnes Dam burst outside Toccoa in 1977, killing 39 people in the ensuing flood, Kenith Miller was devastated. A expert on safety, the civil engineer knew there was a problem with the earthen dam, but disaster hit before it could be fixed.
To avert similar tragedies, Miller lent his talents to working on a safe dams bill that the Georgia Legislature passed in the late 1970s and he was subsequently honored by the state House of Representatives. In a letter from then-Rep. Tom Phillips to Miller’s boss at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, he was singled out for “for his dedication and the several hours of his personal time which he spent in trying to prevent the disaster we experienced.”
When Miller later retired from the regulatory commission, he put his skills toward engineering for the spirit, going to work for the Georgia Baptist Convention, one of his passions, his daughter said. He helped scout sites for new churches and even drew up some of the plans.
“He loved his job, but this was what he really wanted to do,” said Janet L. Broyles of West Lafayette, Ind. “He felt like there was a calling on his life to do this.”
Kenith H. Miller, of Mountain Park, died Saturday from complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 86. A funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Thursday. Tom M. Wages, Snellville, is in charge of arrangements.
A native of Sand Mountain, Ala., Miller came to Atlanta in 1956 when he took a job with the then-Federal Power Commission, said his son, Kenith W. Miller, of Pembroke Pines, Fla. An Auburn graduate and Navy veteran, Miller was a regional civil engineer for the commission, which changed its name to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1977.
“His big concern was safety,” his son said. “And when that dam blew out, Dad was working with some of our representatives on a bill asking that some of these uninspected earthen dams be inspected. It just broke his heart.”
For his work, Miller traveled all over the southeast and often took his children with him, his daughter said, adding, “There aren’t many dams in the Southeast we haven’t seen.” Miller retired from the federal commission in 1982 after 26 years, but he never stopped engineering.
While helping the Georgia Baptist Convention build churches, he also spent a year in Liberia in 1986, overseeing the construction of a bridge that helped connect remote villages. He worked with the convention until 2006, his son said.
“He was very much devoted to his faith and his missionary work, here and overseas,” he said.
In addition to his children, Miller is survived by his wife of 61 years, Betty Joe Pierce Miller of Snellville; brothers, Raymond A. Miller of Georgia and Bobby G. Miller of Alabama; and five grandchildren.
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