Tiger Statue Will Honor Former Graduate

Bloomfield High School will soon be the home of a 250 pound, six-foot-long bronze Bengal tiger.

The tiger statue will be unveiled to commemorate Herbert Miller, now deceased, who was a graduate from 1954 and all-state athlete.

The monument was funded by the Herbert Miller Committee, is comprised of his longtime friends: Walter Murphy, James Brady, Natalie Miller, Thomas Zimmerer, Lawrence Casparro and Joseph Wojak, who raised up to $7,000 and received more than 100 donations for the statue.

The Miller’s family and friends say he was an extraordinary person. Besides being a celebrated athlete and vice-president of his class, later in his life after undergoing a spinal surgery, Miller became paraplegic, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

But that did not stop him, said his wife, Natalie Miller, who knew Miller since she was six years old. “He just continued life as though nothing had happened to him,” she said.

Although athletics were a big part of Herbert Miller’s life, after his surgery, he continued and played sports such as bocce and shuffleboard. “He simply made a new life for himself and he wasn’t about to give up,” she said.

Joseph Wojak, a friend of Miller since high school, says Miller was humble about his athletic skills and everyone looked up to him. “He was one of those athletes that come once in a generation,” he said.

Wojak said when he and his friends found out about Miller’s injury they went to visit him in hopes of cheering him up. “We would call him and try to cheer him up and we would wind up being cheered up by him instead,” he said, “His attitude and the way he dealt with his injury was an inspiration to everyone that ever met him.”

Christopher Jennings, principal of Bloomfield High School says the tiger is going to be a great addition. “It’s symbolic and it also adds to the outside of the school and represents Bloomfield High School, the Bengals.”

The monument will sit outside the main office and is expected to arrive by Labor Day. There will also be a dedication ceremony for Herbert Miller during Homecoming on October 12th.

The committee hopes that the Bengal tiger will lift up the spirit and atmosphere in the high school, said Thomas Zimmerer, a friend of Herbert Miller since grammar school, “To sum it up Herb’s life was a victory over tragedy.”

So, why did his friends choose a statue of a Bengal tiger to remember Miller? “[Herbert] was a Bengal from the top of his head to the tip of his toe,” said Natalie Miller, “If he’s watching, let me tell you, that is the thrill of his life.”