Tester pays tribute to Blaine County Commissioner Vic Miller
Havre Daily News
North-central Montanans and others throughout the state are mourning a man they called a good friend and a true public servant.
Blaine County Commissioner Vic Miller, 58, who had been fighting failing health for a long time, died Friday night at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls from complications from diabetes.
Miller had been dealing with health problems for some time, after a lifetime of public service, ranging from serving in the U. S. Army to serving as executive director of District 4 Human Resources Development Council, from mayor of his hometown of Harlem to county commissioner.
One of the first to pay tribute to Miller was U. S. Sen. Jon Tester, who used to play in bands with Miller, a well-known Hi-Line musician.
“Vic Miller was a great friend who will be deeply missed, ” Tester said in a release Saturday. “Vic believed in personal freedoms, standing up for Montana values, and most of all the value of friendship and public service. Vic ended all of his voicemail greetings by saying, ‘I’m here to serve you. ’ He spent a lifetime doing just that, making Harlem a better community, Blaine a better county, and Montana a better state. ”
Tester quoted Miller in the release, saying Miller used to say that when Tester won his seat in the U. S. Senate in 2006, he “lost a trumpet player, but gained a senator. ”
