Former Engineer's Love Of Art Satisfied By Bonsai

Dick Miller is in charge of the
bonsai exhibit at the Morikami
Museum and Japanese
Gardens. He's shown here
with a bonsai bougainvillea.

Someone like Dick Miller is a bonsai garden's best friend.
At the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Miller can tell in a glance what each miniature tree needs. He repots them and trims their stray branches with an artist's eye.
Walking through the bonsai exhibit, he points out the unusual, like the jaboticaba tree with tiny fruit that grows on the trunk, and a buttonwood that is more than 400 years old.
"I enjoy doing the bonsai," said Miller, curator of the bonsai exhibit and a museum board member. "It's very satisfying."
Miller, a retired engineer and management consultant, has been with the museum since 1997 and is a past president of the Bonsai Society of the Palm Beaches. He is a board of trustees member of the Bonsai Societies of Florida and editor of the organization's magazine. He also is on the board of the American Bonsai Society.
His first bonsai tree was a Christmas gift about 10 years ago from his daughter, Susan. "I immediately killed it," he said. "I replaced it, and I killed that one too."
Soon afterward, however, he read books, joined a club and "started raising bonsai that didn't die," he said.
Bonsai appeals to both the scientist and the art lover in Miller. There's the science involved in helping them thrive, and bonsai itself is a living art, he said.
Miller's artistic endeavors also include making pottery, and he uses some of it to display his bonsai.
Miller and his wife, Lois, have lived in Palm Beach County since 1967, and they have lived in Atlantis the past eight years. In addition to their daughter, they have a son, Michael, and three grandchildren.
Miller worked for the engineering firm Gee & Jenson until he retired as president in 1990. He spent the next six years doing independent consulting.
A strong work ethic, even in retirement, was something Miller learned while growing up in the mountains near Williamsport, Pa. He was born in Emmaus, near Allentown, and is the oldest of four children.
He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Emmaus High School in 1952, during the Korean War. He spent the next four years in the service, and he later earned a degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University.
Miller then went to work for a consulting firm in Allentown. After a trip to South Florida to visit his brother, he moved his family here for good.
Now he teaches classes and makes presentations about bonsai. Recently, he and his wife took a bonsai cruise, organized by the museum, where he gave a demonstration.
"We're looking forward to doing it again," he said.
For information about future cruises or about the museum, call the Morikami at (561) 495-0233.

What are your hobbies?

Traveling abroad, making pottery.

What is your most memorable moment?

"The birth of my daughter."

What is your favorite movie?

The Passion of the Christ.

For what would you like to be remembered?

"I would be happy if I inspired people to give back and be kind to other people."