City Replaces Bobby Miller Memorial Outside OCHS

Bobby Miller was the oldest of five siblings who would make their mark on Ocean City High School athletics, and even as a sophomore, he led the Red Raiders' football team in rushing yardage. He also starred in wrestling and baseball.

But Miller died in a tragic accident on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1980. Though he never got to graduate with his classmates, a memorial plaque helped to keep alive the memory of the popular young man.

More than 20 years later, the memorial was removed during the reconstruction of Ocean City High School in the early 2000s and lost during the process.

But Mayor Jay Gillian, a member of Miller's Ocean City High School Class of 1983, and Miller's family gathered Tuesday morning to rededicate a new memorial. A new plaque sits at the base of a tree near the entrance to the parking lot across from the high school on Atlantic Avenue.

Jane Miller Glenn (Bobby's mother), three of his siblings (David Miller, Kristie Fenton and Marcia Shallcross) and three of his nieces/nephews (Abbey Fenton, Natalie Jackson and Doug Shallcross) were present for the dedication.

Miller's football jersey No. 44 was retired after his death, but the team has agreed to let sophomore Doug Shallcross wear his uncle's number this fall.

The Bobby Miller Memorial Award, "a symbol of all that is good in athletic competition," is given every year to deserving OCHS students. This year the awards were as follows: $500 to Elizabeth Cruz and Carling Mott; $1,000 to Nicole Barbieri, Megan Devlin, Matthew Locotos, Ashley Nardiello and Aida Pleho; $2,000 to Caitlyn Brice, $4,000 to Elizabeth Farnan, Mia Tomkins and Steven Zellers.