Norma Miller, an advocate, caretaker, and registered nurse, died Sunday in her Toledo home. She was 91.

Mrs. Miller had been in hospice care at home to make her more comfortable, her daughter Susan Badman said. Though she had no underlying health conditions, her old age had made it difficult to walk.

Mrs. Miller was born April 16, 1931, in Gibsonburg, Ohio, to parents Welby and Mabel Sampsel. She spent much of her childhood there before the family moved to Fremont.

“She was a Fremont Ross Little Giant, she was very proud of that,” Mrs. Badman said. “And she just loved the town of Fremont – that’s basically where she lived until she came to Toledo when she got married.”

Mrs. Miller married her late husband, Glen Miller, on June 26, 1953. The couple were married for more than 60 years and had three children together. Mr. Miller died in 2014.

After graduating from Fremont Ross High School, Mrs. Miller attended Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, and the University of Toledo, attaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing.

“She always wanted to be a nurse – she was always helpful,” Mrs. Badman said of her mother. “Even as a child, she was helpful.”

Mrs. Miller started her career as a registered nurse at Robinwood Hospital, which later became St. Luke’s Hospital. After many years working in different departments around the hospital, Mrs. Miller transitioned to school nursing at Washington Local Schools in 1968.

Mrs. Miller often traveled to and from Columbus advocating for legislation to put more nurses in schools, Mrs. Badman said. According to one of Mrs. Miller’s own diary entries, she once traveled to Columbus 19 times in one month for the committee for certification of Ohio School Nurses.

Mrs. Miller also served as the president of the Northwest Ohio Association of School Nurses, and the Ohio Association of School Nurses.

Mrs. Miller retired from nursing for good in 1997 after nearly 30 years at Washington Local. She then became a full-time grandmother.

“She was at every sporting event with the grandkids,” Mrs. Badman said. “It was lacrosse, it was soccer, it was basketball, volleyball, hockey, track and field… She was a real trooper with the kids, and they all loved her.”

Kori Martins, one of Mrs. Miller’s grandchildren, remembered her the same way.

“I did play a lot of sports, and she didn’t miss a thing,” Ms. Martins said. “I’m pretty sure she never missed a game.”

“When [Kori] did cross country, once, after she was running, she started feeling a little sick,” Mrs. Badman said. “Well, mom, the caring person she was, and a nurse, she went over to Kori and sort of guided her where to go.”

Mrs. Miller herself also had a background in athletics – her daughter said she used to play in a softball league in her youth.

Mrs. Badman said her mother’s caring nature and general enjoyment of life was something that Mrs. Miller passed down through the generations.

In a diary entry from April 16, 2011 — her 80th birthday — Mrs. Miller expressed that very sentiment.

“I am 80 years old today,” Mrs. Miller wrote in neat cursive. “The family surprised me with the best party I have ever enjoyed! I don’t think the children realize how much they and their children mean to me.”

“I feel blessed – and sometimes wonder why,” Mrs. Miller continued. “Maybe I did something right along the way - (?)”

Buried in Mrs. Miller’s diary was a prompt that read, “What dreams have you had during your lifetime? Have any become a reality?” Listed below, Mrs. Miller had written, “being a nurse, being a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.”

Her final line said, “all accomplished!!”

“Through and through, her personality, inside and out — I’m sorry to say, but [she was] a perfect person,” Mrs. Badman said. “I don’t ever remember hearing her complain about anything.”

“I never heard her say a bad thing about anyone, ever,” Ms. Martins added. “She was basically a mother to my father, too – pretty much took him in and was a great mother to him, too, when he didn’t have that with his family.”

Surviving are her children Amy Westphal, Jeffery Miller, and Mrs. Badman; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Miller’s service will be private, and the family did not have tribute suggestions.

First Published October 5, 2022, 4:00 a.m.