Obituary (Fogelsanger-Bricker)

A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. in Old Main Chapel at Shippensburg University. Officiating will be The Rev. Dr. Francis H. Norton. Private burial will be in the Spring Hill Cemetery. Visitation will immediately follow the service in the Shippensburg University Conference Center. Facemasks will be required at all indoor facilities at Shippensburg University.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Shippensburg University Foundation, 500 Newburg Road, Shippensburg, PA 17257. In the memo line please write SU Foundation/Donnie Miller Swimming Scholarship.
 
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University Athletics Department is saddened to learn of the death of former coach Donald N. "Donnie" Miller. Shippensburg extends its sincerest condolences to his family and friends and to the countless individuals he mentored and influenced.
 
Miller, inducted into the Shippensburg University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009, is one of the most successful coaches in school history. He is the founder of the Shippensburg University men's and women's swimming teams, and the school's natatorium was re-named in his honor in 1993.   
 
A four-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Coach of the Year, Miller served as the men's swimming coach for 20 seasons (1972-73 – 1991-92) and the women's swimming coach for three seasons (1972-73 – 1974-75). Miller started the swimming program at SU in the fall of 1971 as a club team before upgrading to intercollegiate play in 1972.
 
During his tenure, Miller produced more national champions than any other swimming coach on the East Coast, including Division I competition. Under his guidance, Shippensburg University men's swimmers won 13 individual national titles, set five national meet records and compiled a graduation rate of 90 percent or higher. All 49 of his All-American swimmers graduated.
 
The men's swimming team's first season was its only losing season in 20 years under Miller, as Raider swimming finished atop the East from 1988-91. After placing second at the conference meet for 12 consecutive seasons from 1978-1989, Miller guided the men's swimming team to PSAC Championships in 1990 and 1991.
 
Miller was the first coach in PSAC history to earn Coach of the Year honors more than once (1981, 1984, 1987, 1990) and finished with a career dual meet record of 236-69-1 (.771 winning percentage).
 
In 1991-92, his final season as the head coach of men's swimming, Miller helped instruct 12 swimmers to All-American status — the most ever in program history — as Shippensburg placed among the nation's top five programs for the fourth consecutive year at the Division II National Championships.
 
Miller was a certified level five coach for the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) — the highest level of national certification — and served on the board of directors of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
 
In 1991, he received the ASCA Award of Excellence for the ninth consecutive year and the College Swim Coaches "Master Coach" Award at the 1990 World Swim Clinic. Miller also received the CSCAA award for outstanding contributions to college swimming. In 2006, Miller was inducted into the South Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Miller graduated in 1965 from Penn State and lettered in football. He has a master's degree from West Chester University in health and physical education and a doctorate in health education from Penn State.
 
In addition to his role with swimming, Miller served as a member of the faculty at Shippensburg University for 35 years. He was a professor from 1969 until his retirement in 2005. Miller also served as an assistant football coach for five seasons from 1969-73.
 
If anyone wishes to pass along their reflections, we will gladly post them to this story when we are able to do so. Please e-mail sid@ship.edu for any comments you wish to provide, along with your name so that it can be attributed to the text.

• Shippensburg Swimming changed my life—all for the better.  Coach Miller was one of a handful of the most important people (men) in my life.  He gave me the opportunity to attend a great school; helped me develop into a productive adult, and prepared me to head out into the "real world" once I graduated. Prayers and Peace to the Miller Family,  -- Steven Cherok— Class of '88 All-American

• I had Dr. Miller for one of my health education classes at SHIP somewhere around 1996. He was one of my favorite professors. Fast forward 20 years later when my son, Jacob Greenwood, is swimming for the Chambersburg high school team and I notice Dr. Miller. It took me a meet or two to remember the connection and how I knew him. How sweet to find out that he's the father of the high school team girl's coach, Donnie Miller, Jr. Six years later my son transferred from PSU, to swim for SHIP. This year Jacob was a recipient of the Donald Miller Sr. scholarship fund! Sincerely, Lori Greenwood, 1999 alumni