Batavia Alderman Miller dies of cancer
Longtime Batavia alderman Linnea Miller has died.
She passed away Tuesday as a result of breast cancer.
"It certainly is a massive loss to the city of Batavia," said Mayor Jeff Schielke, who visited Miller in the hospital Monday night. He said they talked about a proposal for a new development in downtown Batavia.
"She was so upbeat and so positive about what was happening," Schielke said.
Miller, 61, and her husband, W.C. "Buzz" Miller, were named Batavia Citizens of the Year for 2009, and were scheduled to receive the award Jan. 30 at the Batavia Chamber of Commerce's annual awards banquet.
Miller has served the 3rd Ward since 1995.
The Millers moved to Batavia in 1978, and Miller began volunteering at her children's schools, for their Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and at Bethany Lutheran Church. In the 1990s, when her children were grown, she turned her attention to city issues.
In here 2009 re-election campaign, Miller was concerned about providing housing affordable for young adults and single parents. Her ward includes a large apartment complex. "They bring life, activity, vitality," to a town, she said.
Miller was the chairman of the council's government services committee, and also served on the community development committee. The mayor thought about canceling Tuesday's CDC meeting, but decided instead to go ahead and have it, believing Miller would want that. The committee is due to hear about an idea to replace an Island Avenue shopping center in the downtown.
"The Chamber and I are devastated by this news," Roger Breisch, executive director of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce, said in a prepared statement. "I have known Linnea for 20 years, both as a hardworking community volunteer and as a personal friend. I will miss her tremendously."
Besides her work for the city, she volunteered with Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, a group dedicated to historic preservation of sites and buildings. She received the Preservation Partnership Award in 2005.
"Linnea was not only a model alderwoman, but a model of the involved, caring citizen. Always reasonable, passionate about the issues she felt strongly, she made sure she was always informed as she acted to advance the issues of downtown redevelopment, the notion of art as an important community value, and the issue of diversity in housing," Batavia city administrator Bill McGrath said in a statement. "Linnea will be greatly missed."
"She truly cared for Batavia," Schielke added.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides her husband, Miller is survived by her children, Elizabeth, Cory and Alex.