Beloved former Okemos guidance counselor, Margaret Miller, dies
Midday update
Ryan Loew • rloew@lsj.com • November 3, 2008 • From LSJ.com



EAST LANSING -- Margaret Miller 's family remembers how every year, Miller, a guidance counselor at Okemos High School, would receive scores of invitations to students' graduation parties.

"Maggie just took an incredible personal interest in all of her students, just an unusual amount of interest," said stepdaughter Anne Soffin, 36, of Charleston, S.C.
Miller, an award-winning educator with decades of experience in Michigan schools, died Sunday of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.

She was 56.

Born and raised in Battle Creek, Miller earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Michigan State University.

She started her career in education in 1974, teaching home economics and life sciences at Harbor Springs High School, said stepdaughter Katie Smith, 34, of Evanston, Ill.

She later worked as a guidance counselor at DeWitt High School and then Okemos High School, where she worked until 2006, when she was forced to retire due to ALS, Smith said.

Even with ALS, Miller continued to teach others, Smith said, setting an example of "courage, dignity and humility" in the face of such an "insurmountable challenge."

Miller is survived by her husband Stan Soffin, three stepdaughters and other relatives.

Read more on this report in Tuesday's Lansing State Journal.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...WS01/811030370