Bob Miller

I received an extraordinary call the other day from Bob Miller (in picture at left). Bob is the Founder of the Robert E. Miller Insurance Company and current COB of the Miller Family Foundation.

The call was extraordinary not because Bob wanted to know if he "owed" DeLaSalle a gift. That was an unusual way for one of our friends to inquire about whether they had an "outstanding" pledge, but it was not extraordinary.

No, what was extraordinary occurred after I told Bob that I was sorry to have bothered him recently by sending materials to him about our capital campaign.

Bob knew what I really meant when I alluded to being sorry, and he forthrightly told me that I should not be sorry for what many of us in Kansas City knew what was about to occur to Bob in his battle with cancer.

In fact, he told me, that was the other reason for his call, to tell me how much he had enjoyed working with me and supporting DeLaSalle over the years. He related some of his remembrances of me in a very kind and thoughtful manner, and said that his impending death was "joyful" and was what he had been preparing for throughout his entire life.

I told him that I thought it was extraordinary that someone who had helped support so many charities for so many years would take the time to call me personally to tell me what he had just said, and I offered to pray for him.

He firmly told me that he had enough people praying for him, and that I should pray instead for those who had lost hope and who had no one else to pray for them.

When we said goodbye, I knew this was probably the last conversation I would ever have with this extraordinary man who had helped change the lives and living conditions of many in Kansas City and throughout the world.

I was grateful for this remarkable human being, and whispered a prayer for him nonetheless. Then I fulfilled my promise to Bob and prayed for someone else.