Dr. Carole J. Miller, 1947 – 2019
Submitted by Candee Grant, August 2025
This obituary was written by Carol’s daughter, Layli Miller-Muro. Pictures below include one with Carol’s good friend Coretta Scott King and one with her sister Candee Grant. Carole attended Parsons’s College with Candee and was part of an explosion of Baha’i activity in Fairfield in the 1960s.
I am writing to inform you of the notable death on August 3, 2019, of Carole Miller, Atlanta Civil Rights and Interfaith Activist. She served as a Commissioner for the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission and was a close personal friend of Corretta Scott King. Her public memorial service will be held on Thursday, August 8th at 5:30 p.m. at the Baha’i Unity Center, 2370 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur, GA 22035.
Carole strongly valued excellence in education and life-long learning. She received her Doctorate in Education from Georgia State University, a Professional Counselor license from the State of Georgia, and continued to pursue new professional certifications in the field through entire life – most recently in 2016.
Throughout her life, she dedicated herself to social action and led initiatives to deepen interfaith dialogue, develop racial harmony, and raise the status of women. Some of her many achievements along these lines included:
o Being appointed a Federal Commissioner for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.
o Serving as a member of the Committee on Religion for the Atlanta Project under the direction of President Jimmy Carter.
o Speaking at the NGO Forum of Women in Beijing, China.
o Meeting with the King of Western Samoa, Malietoa Tanumafili on two occasions
o Serving as Program Director for Mottahedeh Development Services, a social and economic development institute
o Serving on the Regional Baha’i Council for the Southern and Southeastern States from 1997 until the end of her life.
Born in Buffalo NY, she was raised by Evelyn Gene and Calvin Pritchard. Carole was most happy when she was singing. Carole remembers developing the love of music from her father who would sing hymns to them. In the 4thgrade she received the leading role of Gretal in the musical Hansel and Gretal. In High School, Carole sang soprano and played secondary leading roles in several musicals in high school such as Oklahoma, Lil Abner, and The Music Man. In college, a solo record was produced of her voice, in the Parsons College Chorale. Throughout her life she continued her love for music through singing in Atlanta Symphony Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw and joining many choirs.
She passed away on August 3, 2019, from cancer and she is survived by her 3 children and 8 grandchildren.
Press is welcome at the Memorial. For more information, please contact Layli Miller-Muro (202-246-1844).
Carole’s daughter Layli Miller-Muro, who wrote this obituary, founded the Tahirih Justice Center, a national, nonprofit organization that serves women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of gender-based violence, in 1997.