November 2002

IN MEMORIAM MILTON MILLER

By William Bregman, CPA Chair, NYSSCPA Personal Financial Planning Committee

Milton Miller died this September after a career in accounting that spanned 50 years. I had the privilege of knowing Milt for just the last seven of those years. Milt was one of the founding fathers of the NYSSCPA Personal Financial Planning Committee and was for many years the editor of its column in The CPA Journal. He sought articles with the highest standards: articles that explained, enhanced, and expanded our knowledge, not those that merely explicated a Code section. Milt encouraged me to volunteer as a contributing editor of the column, and for the past several years I was fortunate to be his co-editor.

Milt started his career as a sole practitioner in 1952, and in 1967 entered into a partnership known as Miller and Co., from which he retired in 1990. A colleague said of him that “people who knew Milt knew him to be a good accountant and a terrific teacher, and he always gave good advice to his clients.” A former chair of the PFP Committee remembers his first meeting with Milt: “He was the first person to welcome me to the financial planning committee, by giving me a writing assignment about two minutes after I joined the meeting.” Typical behavior for Milt: Get them involved and put them to work.

Milt also served as a member of the Alzheimer’s Association Board and as the treasurer of his cooperative building. He continued to practice, handling the affairs of his family and several clients. Kalman Katz, CPA, who worked for Milt for the last four years, said, “I found him to be very knowledgeable, and willing to share that knowledge with me when I needed clarification for my clients.” According to Kal, Milt was still working the day before he died. An IRA distribution letter had gone out to a client with the wrong address. Although Milt could barely speak, he insisted that the address be corrected and the letter remailed that day.

Milt was one of the rare few who exemplify the best of our profession. He was demanding but fair, knowledgeable and always willing to share his knowledge. He was a teacher and a doer.