Willis H. Miller, 89, a 68-year Hudson newspaperman and well-known historian, died Nov. 16, 2008.
Miller was lured from a teaching profession to the newspaper business in 1940 for the grand salary of $11 a week. A lifelong bachelor, he had been a household name at the Hudson Star-Observer and in the community ever since.
In August 1952, Miller became editor and general manager of the newspaper. In 1958 Yvette Ward, after six years of ownership, decided to sell the Star-Observer. Miller then formed a corporation of local investors and purchased the Star-Observer. In the new corporation, he became publisher, president and treasurer, positions he held for the next quarter century.
After more than 40 years with the newspaper, in the early 1980s, Miller partially retired, and sold much of his interest in the company. Miller, though retired, continued to work at the paper on a part-time basis. In 2004, Miller was elected to the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame. He served as a valued member of countless community organizations.
One of Miller’s main contributions to Hudson was the role he played as a founder of the St. Croix County Historical Society. Another of his contributions was the founding and developing of the Hudson Area Biographical Index at the office of the Star-Observer.
