<div>
Economic Development Director Colonel Joseph A. Miller, Dead at Sixty-five.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"Colonel <em>Joseph A. Miller </em>(USAF, Retired), executive vice president of the Santa Barbara Area Economic Development Association since its inception in 1964, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack, Monday, September 11, at the Chamber office. Funeral services were held at All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, with interment in Santa Barbara Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Kitty.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“As director of the SBAEDA, Joe served without pay. He shunned publicity and always employed the utmost discretion in selecting the firms he sought to bring into the Santa Barbara area.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"Raised in South Dakota and educated at West Point, Joe Miller lived a life most men only dream about. Military and State Department assignments took him to China, the Philippines, North Africa, France, Spain, Brazil, and a host of other locales. After retiring here, he earned a Master's Degree in Political Science at UCSB [University of California, Santa Barbara]. All who knew Joe will deeply miss this remarkable man who enjoyed life so much and gave so generously of his time and talents.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Thus read the notice to all Santa Barbara business leaders in the official publication of the Santa Barbara California Chamber of Commerce. Joe had won the hearts of all in his drive and enthusiasm for SBAEDA and I am sure he would have been honored by this tribute.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Joe, as he was affectionately known, was a military figure who was admired by all who knew him and served with him. He was a leader, par excellence, who took the rough ones right along with his men. Thus it was during the dark days in Europe of 1943-44 that he, as Commander of the 453d Bomb Group, and taking his own turn at the controls, was shot down over Germany. That day, 18 March 1944, ended World War II for Joe and he spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war in Germany.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Joe was born 23 January 1907 in Nevada, Iowa, and moved with his parents shortly thereafter to South Dakota where he grew up on his family’s ranch near Presho. He attended South Dakota School of Mines at Rapid City until he received an appointment to West Point, Class of 1930. The years 1930-43 were interesting ones for Joe during which time he completed his pilot training and also graduated from the Air Corps Technical School and the Celestial Air Navigation School at Rockwell Air Base, California. In 1937 Joe was assigned to the Philippines Department in Manila and during this tour of duty he made two official visits to China to observe the invasion of China by the Japanese.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Obviously World War II was close at hand when Joe returned to the United States and he was immediately earmarked as one to become a combat bomb group commander. It was a great loss to the war effort when Joe went down and was destined to spend the remainder of the war behind bars.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Upon the defeat of Germany, his release from prison camp, and following a period of rest and recuperation, Joe was appointed Chief of the United States Air Mission to Ecuador where he remained until mid-1947. At this time he received orders appointing him as United States Air Attache to Spain. During this period Joe was engaged in the preliminary negotiations with the Spanish government for the very sensitive United States Base Rights agreement which resulted in the United States Air Force complex of airbases in Spain today. It was in Madrid that Joe met his wife, Catalina Moreno (Kitty), and they were married in Paris on 12 December 1950.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Joe and Kitty returned to Washington in 1951 to attend the National War College. Upon graduation Joe was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Inspector General, United States Air Force, and served in this post for three and one-half years until he received his last United States Air Force assignment and designated Chief of the United States Military Advisory Mission to Brazil.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was appropriate that Joe's last United States Air Force assignment should have been one of a diplomatic/military nature, for this was Joe's forte and a more qualified officer and linguist will never again fill those shoes.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Joe retired from the United States Air Force upon the completion of thirty years service in June 1960 wearing decorations bestowed upon him by the United States Air Force, France, Spain, Ecuador and Brazil. He and his wife Kitty established their home in Santa Barbara, California, where Joe enrolled in the University of California and earned a Master’s Degree in Political Science in 1963. In 1964 Joe was appointed as Executive Vice President and Director of the Santa Barbara Area Economic Development Association and he served in this capacity to the day of his death.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We who knew Joe will always cherish his warm and sincere friendship. He was always completely forthright and honest with everyone for he despised hypocrisy and pretense. His cheerful approach to the rigors of prisoner of war life helped many of the less strong to keep their perspective. Joe never lost his sense of humor and he enjoyed a joke on himself most of all. Joe was religious in his own inconspicuous way and his major contribution to the world was the happiness he gave to others.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We miss you, Joe.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>—A Friend</em></div>
<div>
</div>