Megan Elizabeth (Eckroad) Miller

Megan Elizabeth Miller passed away on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in her 58th year. 

Megan started her journey through life on April 21,1965 in Newport Beach California. She was born with a congenital heart condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot, 5 major problems with her heart. It was not likely that she would live past early adulthood at best. Her life has been a miracle in that she beat the odds and lived longer than all expectations while becoming beautiful person, like a flower in the dessert. Megan was a whimsical happy child who, though grew up in the midst of adversity, developed into a beautiful person of compassion, love and character. She endured open heart surgery as a child and then as a teenager to fix holes and replace valves. She saw how her parents’ life changed as they left the hippy lifestyle behind and began their journey as Christians. The change, growth, and hope Megan saw her parents and those around her model, provided her with a foundation for life and an outlook of faith and love. As a child she developed a love of art and music. She started learning the violin at a young age and became a very talented musician. She also developed a love of travel, adventure, and nature. In her mid-teens, her heart muscle was deteriorating, and the doctor said that nothing could be done to reverse the deterioration. Some friends took her to a healing service where here specific condition was called out by the preacher for healing. Megan stood and chose to believe God would heal her.

Her heart grew stronger, she lived on, went to college, spent a summer in Japan, and ultimately ended up at Elim Bible Institute in Lima NY at Elim, Megan met and fell in love with Brian Miller. She said she really fell in love with him as they were handing out blankets to homeless in New York City on a college outreach. Megan gave away her first kiss to Brian on the streets of New York along with her undying love. Megan and Brian left Elim, got married, and then finished up schooling at North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. Together, Megan and Brian began carving out a life together while attending school, caretaking an apartment complex, working preschool and Brian at UPS.

During this time their beloved daughter, Sara was born. Immediately after college, Megan and Brian moved to Japan where they were hired to teach English as a second language by a church on the outskirts of Osaka. This was a dream of Megan’s. During this time Megan’s valve failed and had to return home to get a third open heart surgery. The doctor told her at this point she was “in the 3% club.” Ninety Seven percent of people born at the time Megan was had passed. This reinforced Megan’s desire to live well, be a person of love, and bring out the best in life and others. The following years included 4 years in the Army for Megan and Brian and then living in Northern Virginia for 20 years where Brian became employed in Technology and Consulting. There were triumphs and tragedies during this time all of which resulted in a deepening of the enduring love Megan and Brian had for each other. They helped each other through their challenges and helped each other to become better than they would have been apart. It was also their true joy to have Sara as a daughter and see her grow into a wonderful young woman. The time in Virginia started to come to an end as Megan recognized that it was becoming time for Brian to move on to the next thing. As always, she recognized the change in the winds of life long before Brian and gently helped him to explore what the future should bring.

In spring of 2015, Brian was looking at jobs and found a posting for Healthfirst on Linked In. He asked Megan, “you don’t want to go to New York City, do you?” Megan’s response was, that would be great, and thus another chapter of life was started. Megan and Brian moved to Hartsdale, NY, within commute distance of the city. This was a time for Megan to build community and realize her dreams. She was able to see her daughter wed and provide for a wonderful wedding and reception. She and bring were able to work on home, enjoy their dogs, travel, and experience satisfying friendships. While her body continued to fail, Megan thrived. In 2019, she had a fourth and fifth open heart surgery and then the Pandemic came. This was another hard time that Megan made beautiful. As Brian began to work from home full time, she made the little rituals and times together special. Getting up early to drink coffee, read the news, talk and be together. Megan would find fun gourmet recipes to make and would enjoy a glass of wine with Brian while he cooked. More beautiful memories were made. More dreams were fulfilled. At the end of the pandemic, Megan and Brian were able to spend a week in Paris, another of Megan’s dreams.

As the world woke back up again, Megan traveled with Brian on all his business trips, spent time with Brian and family in Cape Cod, Maine, and at home. Winter and Spring of 2023, Megan’s health continued to decline, but she kept on living, loving and traveling. In June, her body had enough, and her body began to shut down and she ended up in the hospital. She continued to live well and be a blessing to everyone around her, including the meal service lady took a liking to Megan and made sure she had Ice Cream at every meal. Her last nonhospital meal with bring was a Charcuterie with shrimp, caviar, and vegetables. She continued to live, care, love and laugh right up to the last days even as her body became more and more tired. Megan lived life well, was a blessing to those around her, and left the world a better place than she found it. She found the good in life and make more of it. She found the love in life and shared it. She found hope in life and overcame hopelessness. She found faith in life and shared it. She ran the good race, ran well, and finished well.

Megan – You will always be with us and in our hearts. Until we see you again in eternity. All my love and all my heart forever. XXOO

An endowment for Elim Bible Institute and College is being opened in memory of Megan. The family would prefer donations to this endowment rather than flowers. Please donate at https://elim.edu/give/.  Put in the notes that this is for the “Endowment in Memory of Megan Miller,” and the in the “How Much do You Want to Give section, select other as the destination.

Family and friends are invited to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church 10 Mill Road - New Rochelle, New York 10804 on Saturday, August 12, 2023. 

See below for the order of service.

Gathering at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church for 11:00 AM

Funeral services to start at 11:30 AM

Burial to follow at The Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla at 1:00 PM

Memorial luncheon to follow after the burial at (approximately 2:00 - 2:15 PM):

Stone Fire Restaurant

251 Lexington Avenue

Mt. Kisco, New York 10549

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Megan Elizabeth (Eckroad) Miller, please visit our Tree Store.