Kathleen Miller

February 20, 1947 to April 20, 2017

Kathleen Miller died peacefully, in her home and surrounded by love, on April 20, 2017. She was born in Manhattan to Louis and Alice Miller, who both passed away when Kathy was still young. Following the deaths of her parents, her brother, Lewis Miller Jr., who survives her, became her legal guardian. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in Slavic Languages from Indiana University, she won a Ford Foundation Special Career Fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley. After two years in that program, she went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Simmons College.

Kathy broke corporate glass ceilings throughout her impressive career in management and marketing. She started at Richardson Vicks in Wilton, Connecticut, moving through the ranks from Product Assistant to Group Product Manager. She moved to the Bay Area in 1982 to become Vice President of Worldwide Business Development at Oral B in Redwood City; Vice President of Marketing, Dermatology Products, at S.C. Johnson and Sons; President of Cooper Vision USA; and Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Penederm Incorporated. From 1995 to 1998 Kathy was an independent marketing consultant for healthcare start-ups until accepting a position as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Life Sleep Systems in South San Francisco. Kathy held several positions with the American Academy of Ophthalmology from 2000 to 2010, and went on to work with the International Council of Ophthalmology.

Kathy’s genuine appreciation of an individual’s unique qualities gained her the respect and admiration of everyone she met. Her insight and perspective as a team player led her to remarkable professional success. Her passionate viewpoints and varying interests made her a fascinating person and engendered friendships across all walks of life. Kathy was fluent in Russian, loved music, food, and travel, and tended to a beautiful garden which created an oasis at her home in the city.

Kathy remarked that the best day of her life was her wedding day, and she was cherished and will be greatly missed by her loving husband, John Ignacio. She is also survived by her daughter Alison Margarita Miller Ignacio of San Francisco; two step-daughters, Kiernan Lindsey Ignacio of Peekskill, New York, and Christine Keith Ignacio of San Francisco; and four grandchildren. Kathy was also the loving aunt to ten nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Kathy’s name be made to the American Cancer Society.