Long-time Edison banker/basketball coach Frank Miller retires at 83

EDISON – Before Frank Miller will say one good thing about himself, he’ll tell you 10 good things about 10 different people.

After decades of teaching, coaching basketball and working as a banker, the 83-year-old has a plethora of people and memories to talk about. He probably knows everyone in Calhoun County, and everyone knows him.

Miller announced his retirement as vice president of the Bank of Edison, the over-a-century-old, sole community bank in the city, in January. He summarized his time at the Bank as “working with good people, for good people.”

Before he was a banker, Miller was a math teacher and basketball coach at Calhoun County High School in Edison. He moved to the town to start the job in 1969. He was there about a year when the integration of Calhoun County High and Singleton High School in Morgan happened.

Miller said it was a great thing to witness, and over the intervening years he saw a series of great youths to coach.

Wilbon Greggs, a Calhoun County farmer, was one of those youths in the 1970s. Greggs played basketball with Miller throughout high school. He said the team reached regional and state championship tournaments each year that Miller was coach. It was a great team.

Greggs said when you think of Calhoun County High School, the first thing that comes to mind is basketball, and it’s been that way ever since integration.

“Frank paved the way for a basketball dynasty,” his former player said. “He started it, and it hasn’t stopped since.”

Miller said coaching was what he always wanted to do. He started playing basketball in the fifth grade with a dirt road as a court. He attended Troy University back when it was Troy College on a basketball scholarship. He coached in Bushnell, Fla., and Albany for a few years before landing in Edison.

He said he saw basketball, and sports in general, as a good outlet for students to keep them off the streets. He said he loved working with young people and made it a point to adapt to each student’s unique needs and personality.

Greggs said Miller was more than a coach – he was a father figure.

“If you had a problem at home or away from home, you could go sit and talk with him,” Greggs said. “He would give you the best advice he could.”

Miller coached Neil Lowe, the Bank of Edison’s current president, years before he worked alongside him.

Lowe said the main thing about Miller is that he’s all about the kids. Miller made it a point to buy clothes and equipment for kids on the team.

“He did whatever it took to make them feel comfortable,” Lowe said. “He was very strict, a good disciplinarian. But he did it out of love for the kids.”

Lowe’s father had passed away a few years before he moved to Edison as an elementary student. He said Miller quickly became like a father, taking him to basketball and football games. Lowe said he did this for many of his students, even when he didn’t have to.

Beyond serving the players on his basketball team, Miller served the Edison and Calhoun County community as a whole. He was known for building wheelchair ramps for people across the county at no cost. Lowe said he’s probably built more than 150 in the last 30 years, paying for the supplies himself.

He said Miller has worked tirelessly for the people of Edison.

“He’s invaluable to Edison,” Lowe said. “He has a huge heart. I don’t know how many people he’s helped.”

Greggs said Miller would take the shirt off his back for anyone and never ask for it back.

“Mr. Frank is a people person,” he said. “I would do anything for him, and he would do the same for me. ‘No’ isn’t in his vocabulary.”

Miller has been a dedicated member of the Edison Community Service Club, formerly known as the Edison Lions Club. He’s hosted a slew of community fundraisers.

He is also an active member of the Edison Baptist Church. He said he was one of the founding members of the church’s prayer group that began meeting more than 25 years ago. The group meets each Wednesday morning and prays for members of the community.

In 2012, when Calhoun County was experiencing a drought, Miller said they got together and prayed for rain.

“And, you know, it rained in the next day or two. I promise you,” he said.

Miller said the prayer group and Community Service Club’s membership has declined greatly over the years. Many of its members are seniors. He said he worries about the future of Edison as all of the youths move away for college and job opportunities. He said he’d like to see more people investing in the community.

“I don’t care who you are. You need to be involved in your community,” Miller said. “There’s not enough of that around here.”

Lowe said Miller is the face of the Bank of Edison, a people person with a knack for judging customers’ character beyond a credit score.

He said Miller had close to 700 customers, and he knows them all by name and everything about them.

The Bank hosted a “Frank Miller Day” on Jan. 17 to honor him and his retirement. Lowe said 100 to 200 people came to pay their respects: former basketball players, colleagues and people from all corners of southwest Georgia.

Miller hasn’t left the bank completely. He still goes in on Mondays and Wednesdays. He said he wants to help the person taking over his position as much as he can.

However, the man who’s constantly in motion said he’s looking forward to finally sitting down with his wife of 61 years, LaRue Miller.

Lowe said it’ll be hard to replace him at the bank.

Photo Courtesy of the Miller Family