Dvorah Miller
August 21, 1952 December 20, 2016
Dvorah Miller, aka the Graham Cracker Fairy, left us late in the evening of 12-20-16. Her wish, often stated over the previous weeks of declining health, was granted: Dvorah arrived in heaven in time to celebrate Christmas!
Dvorah dedicated her life to alleviating suffering. An ardent knitter, Deb created thousands of fine caps for those suffering from cancer and warm scarves for the homeless. When not knitting or working in the presbytery she nurtured feral kittens for the SFSPCA, bottle feeding them around the clock, until they were ready to find their forever homes. When word of Dvorah’s transition to heaven spread, via her Wednesday Whimsey e-mail list, her friends began to share memories. Slowly, we are discovering some of the true extent of her extraordinary array of good deeds! One writer shared that Deb had “Sponsored the children at my school with daily graham crackers and provided uniforms, supplies, notes of encouragement, Safeway and Target cards, prizes, and whatever might have been needed by becoming the very incognito ‘Graham Cracker Fairy’. Somehow on her very limited budget she was able to provide thousands of dollars of help to hundreds of students for over 10 years, until she became too ill to continue, by finding and writing grants, soliciting friends, the deacons at her (our) church, and businesses, and a lot of out-of-pocket of her own. Our school put a little engraved tile by the front door commemorating her service which she was never able to see because of ill health.”
Another note stated: “I met her 14 years ago when she joined Knitting Pals and volunteered; not like she wasn’t giving and doing for so many organizations. But Deb found the time, enjoyed the knitting and made thousands of caps for cancer patients; she received many thank you notes from the patients who appreciated having one of her caps. In addition at Xmas time she knitted hundreds of scarves for the homeless at St. Anthony’s S.F.”
Dvorah adopted children through out the world, beginning with many young members of the Navajo Nation, whom she both visited and brought to San Francisco for fun vacations. We will never know the full extent of Deb’s ‘kindness in action’! Those of us who are privileged to have known Dvorah as our friend, and those whose lives were enriched by her profound kindness, will truly and deeply miss her!
Deb is survived by her mother, Lucia Anne Miller, sister Lucia Ellen, and brother Donald, as well as family and friends throughout the east coast.
Dvorah also leaves her greatly loved feline companion, Buddy, and a wide web of friends in her adopted home city of San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Dvorah’s wish is that each of us who knew her will celebrate her life on her birthday, the summer solstice of 2017, savoring her favorite Ben and Jerry’s “Cherry Garcia” ice cream!
A celebration of Dvorah’s life will be held Saturday, January 14 at 1:30 at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, 201 Eucalyptus, SF. A reception follows in the church hall with an ice cream social featuring Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.