Father Donald Miller, OFM

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Father Donald Miller, OFM, a Peoria native and former vocation director for the Order of Friars Minor of the St. John the Baptist Province, died on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, at St. Margaret Hall here. He was 72.

Father Don’s body was to be received at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, at St. Clement Church in Cincinnati, followed by a Mass of the Resurrection at 10 a.m.  Interment will be in the Friars’ Plot at St. Mary Cemetery, St. Bernard, Ohio.

Born in Peoria on Jan. 29, 1945, he was one of three children of Raymond and Thekla (Bucher) Miller and attended St. Thomas the Apostle School in Peoria Heights. After graduating from Spalding Institute in Peoria, he entered the Franciscan Order in 1964, making solemn profession in August of 1969.

Father Don was ordained on June 10, 1972, at St. Leonard Church in Centerville, Ohio.

He did post-graduate studies in psychology at Eastern New Mexico University and received a doctorate degree in moral theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He served in pastoral and educational roles in New Mexico; at Xavier University in Cincinnati; and Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. From 2003 to 2015, Father Don was vocation director for the province.

His most recent ministry was with the staff of Franciscan Media.

He is survived a sister, Dorothy A. O’Toole of Peoria, and members of his religious community.