Jeffery Miller was born Sept. 5, 1954. His father ran the family business, Miller’s Laundry and Dry Cleaning. Miller’s laundry is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Hendersonville.

 

Jeff was a youngster when he started working for his dad, sorting, folding and packing laundry trucked in from the summer camps that operate in the mountains around Hendersonville.

 

He graduated from Hendersonville High School in 1972. A couple of years after he graduated from Appalachian State University, Jeff took a hard look at his father’s offer to take over the business and decided he could make a living and serve his town by staying in the family business.

 

Jeff ran the business alongside his father for the next 20 years.

 

In 1988, he married Tamara Mathis, the daughter of an insurance man and schoolteacher. Their son Beck, a junior at HHS, honors student and member of the Bearcats 2009 1-A state champion soccer team, was born in 1992.

 

As a downtown businessman and lifelong resident, Jeff soon got involved in civic service, though not in a high-profile way. When a city police officer was shot, he led a campaign to raise money for bullet-proof vests. When the need arose for a place for teenagers, he helped start a youth club. He served on the Community Foundation, Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association.

 

A member of Grace Lutheran Church of Hendersonville, Jeff has been active in the Chamber of Commerce, Boys and Girls Club, Henderson County YMCA and Pardee Hospital. He received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bush in the Oval Office in 2008 and also received the Carolina Freedom Foundation Award for Patriotism and the Duke Power Award for service to the community.