Emilie Anne Miller – Nov. 8
Emilie Anne Miller, formerly Emilie Casparian, died on Nov. 8 at the age of 87 of heart failure. Emilie was a Pelham resident for over 30 years, having moved first to Pelham Manor in 1963 and later to then-Pelham Heights in 1970, where she raised her family. She moved to Essex, Connecticut, in 1995 and had lived there since.
Emilie was active in local and regional politics on behalf of Democrats and served for a term as the chair of the Pelham Democratic Party. Emilie was also instrumental in founding the Pelham Art Center in the 1970s, was a member of the Manor Club and a member and sustaining member of the Junior League of Pelham. Emilie was a longtime member of the Huguenot Memorial Church and served as co-chair of the church’s annual Four Corners Antique Show for a 10 year period. She volunteered for many organizations including the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History, where she had the great pleasure serving as a docent for the dinosaur exhibits. With her young family, she spent summers from the early 60s to mid-70s at Huguenot Yacht Club on Long Island Sound, and then summering on Nantucket Island after purchasing their first summer home there. Emilie was also one of a close circle of Pelham friends and their book club for over 50 years, even after moving to Essex (and for a time also had an apartment at The Fairways so as not to miss a gathering).
Emilie was born in La Grange, Texas, in 1933 among a large family. She later moved to Pennsylvania, where she graduated from Hatboro High, attended Penn State, and graduated from Temple University, where she met her future husband, Haig. In Essex, later in life, Emilie was an enthusiastic member of the Essex Garden Club, where she was admired for her knowledge of plants and flowers. Her friends remember her as brilliant in her thinking and knowledgeable and engaged in current affairs to her last day, when she had the final satisfaction of hearing Joe Biden declared the President-elect of the United States and Kamala Harris as Vice-President elect.
Emilie was dearly loved and will be missed by her children and grandchildren, Pamela Leinbach of Boca Raton, Florida, and Nantucket, Massachusetts, and her husband Steven and son Teddy; Theodore Casparian of Morristown, Vermont, and his wife Elizabeth and their children William, Elliott and Sara; Thomas Casparian of Los Angeles, California, and his wife Lindsey and their children Amelia and Eleanor, and Keith Bailey of Maui, Hawaii, and his wife Melanie, in addition to family in Texas.
A memorial will be held at a future date due to the pandemic. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to FAIRFight.com Atlanta, Georgia, the Sierra Club, the Pelham Art Center or the Essex Garden Club would be deeply appreciated.
Editor’s note: This obituary was provided by the family.
Gray Jacobik • Jun 22, 2022 at 11:43 am
I did not know Emilie personally, however my husband and I bought our home from her (14 River Road, Deep River, CT) in 2004, and I live everyday with the aesthetic choices she made which have greatly expanded the beauty and pleasure of our home. She did walk me through the garden once and gave me a map of the more than 200 varietals she had planted (and I was astounded that she knew and rattled off all of the Latin/Linnean names of each). I continue to garden in Emilie’s garden and appreciate the great gift of that creation, and the beauty of the sunroom and the expanded kitchen. Her aesthetic was unique, so her vision is visible to me and many of the plants she planted still bloom so magnificently. When I dig in the very expensive and rich soil she had installed, or walk on the granite entry stoop she had installed, or look out of the windows she added to the breakfast room, I appreciate her contribution, which will go on giving long after I’m no longer here and some other persons benefit from her sense of beauty. 14 River Road is a very special place, and not the least for the years Emilie lived here.
Sylvia Hampton • Mar 5, 2021 at 8:30 am
For those in the family who don’t know me by name or face, I first met Emilie/Candy when we both worked college summers in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island, NJ. There we discovered that we had grown up in the same county, and our friendship was sealed. We kept in touch when we both lived in Boston. Much later, visited in Pelham Manor and, when she moved to CT we were able to spend some time together. Visits in Deep River. Also, here in Middletown, RI. In the past two years, much has happened in both our lives, healthwise and we were unable to “lunch in Mystic.”
So, belatedly, I send my condolences to all of you. We, my husband, Don and I, share your sorrow in this loss. But, too, we share the joy of having known her. Her wit, her keen observations, her ready laughter, her reading choices. I smiled to read that she lived to see President Biden in office!
Thomas W. Casparian • Nov 20, 2020 at 9:50 pm
Thank you.