Amos Miller, former Corbin Mayor and Recreation Director, dies Thursday

Amos Miller, above center, performs the ceremonial coin flip during a Corbin home football game recently. Miller died Thursday.

Nelson Eddie “Amos” Miller, a man who spent is working life in service to the City of Corbin, died Thursday at age 78.

The Corbin native literally worked his way to the top of city government, beginning as a public works employee.

When the city’s recreation department was created in 1970, Miller was selected to run it, doing so until 1996.

After two years away from the city, during which he worked at a truancy officer in Knox County, Miller was elected to serve on the Corbin City Commission in 1998.

In October 2004, he was appointed to fill out the remainder of Mayor Scott Williamson’s term after Williamson resigned.

Williamson said Friday that he knew Miller long before their days together on the city commission, going back to when Williamson played for Central Elementary’s football team and Miller coached East Ward’s team.

“Amos was a very unique individual,” Williamson said.

“He was sort of a kid at heart,” he said.

While serving as mayor of Corbin on the commission with Miller, Williamson said the two did not always agree on specifics, but they did always agree on one thing.

“We both tried to make decisions that were best for the future of Corbin,” Williamson said.

Williamson said Miller was instrumental in bringing together the park project that would become known as Miller Park off of Barton Mill Road.

“He worked very hard on that,” Williamson said of Miller.

Terry Joe Martin said Miller was a lifelong friend dating back to Martin’s days as a Little League baseball coach.

“We just had a natural attachment,” Martin said of his friendship with Miller.

The friendship continued beyond Martin’s days on the ballfield.

“He was a very caring, very giving person,” Martin said of Miller.

Martin said whether it was working for the city, or for Knox County as a truancy officer, Miller’s focus was on helping children.

“He really had the best interest of kids, particularly the kids of Corbin at heart,” Martin said of Miller.

While Miller’s time at mayor was limited, he was instrumental in several items that have helped the city grow.

In 2006, the city commission implemented the occupational tax. An agreement was reached with the Whitley County Fiscal Court to split the occupational tax revenue on in order to avoid stacking the city and county taxes.

In addition, Miller was instrumental in getting Corbin reclassified as a fourth-class city in order to permit it to institute the restaurant tax.

Visitation for Miller is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Immanuel Baptist Church.

The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the church.

See the January 8 edition of the News Journal for a more in depth story.