Janet L. Miller

Surrounded by loving family and friends, Janet L. Miller, 70, passed away on July 13, 2024, at her childhood home in Lambertville, Michigan, following a brief battle with cancer. Janet was the oldest daughter and second of 10 children born to Norman and Nancy Miller.

Janet lived a life beautifully defined by her deep Faith and unwavering commitment to her family, friends, community, and career. Her path to life success was evident as a teenager when she was the 1972 class valedictorian at Notre Dame Academy (NDA) in Toledo, Ohio. In 2005, Janet was inducted into the NDA Hall of Fame. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Michigan in 1976, earning an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. In 1979, she earned a Juris Doctor (JD) degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Notre Dame Law School where she was a member of the Law Review. At graduation, she was awarded the Farabaugh Prize for High Scholarship in Law.

After law school, Janet moved to Cleveland where she began her legal career as an associate with Jones Day, and eight years later became a Partner and then the Cleveland Office Administrative Partner for Financial Matters. In parallel to her burgeoning career, Janet nurtured a plethora of avenues for community service. For 45 years, she touched countless lives with her sanguine personality and dogged determination to achieve excellence whether at work or as a volunteer for the many nonprofit organizations to which she graciously and generously lent her time and talents.

In 1997, Janet spearheaded the creation of “In Counsel With Women,” an effort first focused on supporting women attorneys at Jones Day to enhance their personal and professional development. Janet’s effort took on a life of its own, quickly expanding beyond the firm. Janet said she never allowed gender to be an issue in her career. “The firm holds you out as a lawyer, not as a male or female,” Janet noted in a September 2000 article, published in Crain’s Cleveland Business.

In 2001, Janet left Jones Day when she accepted a position as Chief Legal Officer at University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center. In that capacity, she served as Secretary and Senior Vice President at University Hospitals Health System, Inc. until her retirement in 2019. As part of the UH Executive Council, Janet provided strategic, tactical and legal advice in connection with the acquisition of five hospitals and their related entities within a two-year period, including multiple physician and foundation organizations. She also provided legal advice to the growing research, commercialization and innovation endeavors of the healthcare system.

Under her leadership, the UH Law Department was named one of the 10 Most Innovative Law Departments in the nation by Inside Counsel, and the UH Internal Audit Department was recognized for its excellence in quality and professionalism by the Institute of Internal Auditors. She was a frequent speaker on leadership and other business topics.

Her deep Faith guided all she did. She was a 30-year member of St. John Vianney Catholic Parish in Mentor, Ohio, serving as a Eucharistic Minister at the Sunday 7:30 a.m. Mass, offering her talents for 10 years as a member of the parish Finance Council and, for three years during her retirement, working as Business Manager. In that capacity, she helped guide All Saints School, the parish elementary school, through Ohio’s new school voucher program. Intellectual curiosity and devotion to her Faith motivated her to return to school to earn a Master of Theology at Saint Mary School of Theology in Wickliffe, Ohio.

In May 2004, Janet was invested as an inaugural member of the Cleveland Commandery in the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller, a worldwide organization founded in the 12th century on chivalric principles of putting others before self. In 2022, Janet was elected Grand Commander of the Sovereign Order, the first female to be elevated to this position.

Janet had an unbridled interest in exploring the world, a passion that had its origins when she was a little girl climbing trees with her siblings at their home in Lambertville and at their family farm near Hudson, Michigan. Janet was so nimble and agile she would reach the highest perch of a willow tree in their front yard to look at the world with a bird’s eye view. As an adult, she took to flight earning her private pilot’s license and booking numerous trips to explore the ends of the Earth and points in between. For many years when planning her annual “big trip,” she invited one or more of her 35 nieces or nephews to accompany her so they could create a shared memory of a lifetime.

Janet’s charitable heart was always beating strong, even when traveling. At her home, she had one room dedicated solely to her travels. In 2011 to raise money for the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, she, a niece, and a nephew, reached base camp on Mount Everest. She recently returned from trips to Hungary, Finland and France in support of the Sovereign Order of St. John. On the trip, she gifted fanny packs with artwork designed by the son of her dear friend, Sheri Edison, whom she met when they were both young attorneys at Jones Day.

Equal to Janet’s love of travel was her love of music. An accomplished pianist and organist, she especially loved Christmas and hosted an annual Christmas party in Cleveland for friends. For family, she always gathered everyone around the organ at her parents’ home to sing Christmas Carols well into the night.

From 2007 to 2013, Janet served on the Board of Directors of the JDRF Northeast Chapter (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and in 2008, was named to the Board of Trustees of Ursuline College. From 2014 to 2020, Janet served on the Board of Trustees at St. John’s Jesuit High School and Academy in Toledo, Ohio, where her five brothers and seven of her nephews graduated. In 2019, Janet was named to the Board of Directors of Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., a position she thoroughly enjoyed as she helped advise the iconic Ohio steel and iron ore company through its recent growth and innovation.

In 2015, Janet co-chaired the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women in Cleveland, a campaign that raised over $1 million to promote awareness of heart disease in women and to support medical research. Among her many civic awards, she received the St. Thomas More Award from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for outstanding personal integrity, professional excellence and community service, and in 2019, she received the YWCA Greater Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award.

Janet was preceded in death by her father Norman (2009) and her mother Nancy (2024). Janet is survived by her siblings: Christopher Miller (Judy), Jane Mackovjak (Mike, deceased); Joyce Konieczny (Tim); Claudia Anderson (Kevin); Jeffrey Miller (Beth); Gerald Miller (Ruth); Kurt Miller (Kristen); Kathy Natzke (Dave); and Jim Miller (Lisa Kavalhuna); and 35 nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Mass will be held at St. John Vianney in Mentor on Saturday, July 20 at 11 a.m. with visitation from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the church before Mass. The Mass will be livestreamed at www.sjvmentor.org.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be directed to:

Ursuline College

St. John Vianney Catholic Parish (Mentor, Ohio)

Catholic Charities Corp. of Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation

Janet Miller Fund at University Hospitals