Ed. note: Glen Lake teacher Don Miller and Suttons Bay director of food service Linda Wrobel are retiring at the conclusion of the school year. Enterprise intern Freddy Hunt profiles Miller below, and Wrobel.

DON MILLER gives his impending
retirement the "thumbs up" sign.

Longtime Glen Lake teacher and Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Miller will be knocking the chalk erasers together for the last time, but he promises not to disappear in a cloud of dust.

And after 39 years of teaching government and civics, 35 of them Glen Lake Community Schools, Miller said it’s about time.

“If you’re 53 years old or younger and graduated from Glen Lake, I was your government teacher,” he said.

But Miller isn’t really retiring. “My wife (Sandy) said I’m ‘just making a career change,’ because retirement means old age,” he said.

Miller’s next venture will be Don Miller Photography. He will be taking pictures of weddings, family reunions and senior pictures to stay involved in the community.

“I’m not one to sit around, I’ll just be throwing myself in that,” he said. “I’m poor at sitting around and I’m really poor at not seeing people everyday. I’m what you call a people junkie.”

Ruth Ann Fosmore works in the guidance office at Glen Lake Schools and has known Miller for over 30 years. Both of her sons played basketball under Miller in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“Even though they all had winning seasons, what they appreciated most were the life lessons” she said. “You win with class and you lose with class.”

Fosmore called Miller's spirit unrivaled and character unforgettable. He is always the first one to remember somebody’s birthday and the first to let everyone know, she said, though few in the county need a reminder of his accomplishments at Glen Lake.

DON MILLER (left) and longtime assistant coach
Paul Christiansen guided Glen Lake boys' basketball
team to the 1977 Class D state championship. The
two worked the sidelines together for 25 years.

Paul Christiansen, athletic director at Glen Lake, was hired by the school in 1973, the same year as Miller. Christianson worked alongside Miller for 25 years as the junior varsity basketball coach and varsity assistant. Together, they led Glen Lake to the Class D state basketball championship in 1977, had many years of success at the conference and postseason levels, and helped put northern Michigan “on the map” for basketball.

“Because of Don and a lot of great kids, we’ve had tremendous – not just basketball – but athletic success,” Christiansen said, recalling that until 1977 no team in the northern Lower Peninsula north of Clare had ever won a state championship besides Glen Lake in ‘59.

“Really, I think that whole thing kind of set the tone, not just for Glen Lake, but for other northern Michigan schools that they also could have success at a state level,” he said.

The year after Glen Lake boys basketball earned a state championship, the girls' basketball team did, too.

And even though Miller is retiring from Glen Lake Schools, Christiansen is confident that he’s not going to disappear.

“I don’t think he’s going away,” Christiansen said. “He’s retiring, but he’s not going away. He thrives on the kids, loves being around the kids, so I think he will still be around.”

In the halls of Glen Lake and beyond, Christiansen said Miller will be remembered as a coach, a teacher, a mentor, a promoter, an ambassador, an enthusiast, a friend and a champion.

In 1998, Miller was inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame, and in 2004 to the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Miller said his greatest accomplishments are his family: Sandy, his wife of 40 years, son Josh, and daughter Joey.

“(They) put up with their father who is a basketball fanatic. They are my greatest accomplishment, easily,” he said.

A retirement party for Miller will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, June 13 at the Maple City Athletic Club gym. Party-goers are encouraged to come prepared with memorable stories of Miller.