Rotary Honors Byron Miller
Submitted by Dr. D. Michael Hart
Westfield Rotarian Byron Miller has been selected to receive the prestigious Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award. Only 50 Rotarians may receive this award each year, out of 1.4 million Rotarians worldwide.
Byron is happily married to Joyce, with one adult son. Byron was a medic in the NJ National Guard 1970-76, then graduated from Rider College with a BS in Business Administration. Byron ran the family business, Portasoft, Inc., a water conditioning company. As a hobby, he is an avid golfer
Byron joined The Rotary Club of Westfield in 1981. He served as club President from 1986-87. Byron has served on many club committees including Scholarship, Grants, Membership Orientation, and was the Chair of the Club Foundation.
Byron held several Rotary District positions, including District Membership Chair, Assistant Governor, Deputy Governor, and Rotary International District Foundation Chair. In addition, Byron was the Rotary International Foundation Water Resource Coordinator for 6 years.
Being an expert in water, Byron has attended several conferences with “Pure Water for the World, Inc.” which was started and is run by Rotarians. He had been to Nicaragua twice at his own expense and had been installing water filters there for a two-year period. In 2007, he decided to lead the district in a massive Matching Grant to save many more lives. He then personally lectured to over 100 Rotary Clubs throughout our state. 32 Rotary clubs were recruited which have contributed $50,000 to this $71,000 Matching Grant. The purpose of this grant was to develop a manufacturing plant for the Bio Filters in Leon, Nicaragua. With the ability to manufacture these filters in Nicaragua, the local villages can then have the filters installed and maintained locally, creating jobs and providing a sustainable project. Every water filter- which is about the size of a garbage can – has a Rotary Logo on it. The people along the “Mosquito Coast” love Rotary and Byron is only going to increase that love and respect for our organization.
With Byron’s education and professional expertise in water, he is the perfect person to be leading this project.
Not resting on his laurels, Byron’s next focus was Haiti, which is the poorest country in our hemisphere. He went to Haiti at his own expense and installed water filters in 250 schools. The children can bring a bucket of clean water home at the end of the school day. After the earthquake of 2010, he again flew down at his own expense to check on all 250 filters to make sure they were still functioning properly.
Byron is a dynamo of new ideas and has the energy and enthusiasm to implement them. Byron has won many Rotary awards including the District Rotarian of the Year, Rotary International Service Above Self Award, The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, and now this current Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award.
Byron is very humble and does not look for credit or awards. He truly wants to help people. He is an outstanding individual, a leader in his profession, and is respected by the community, and in the Rotary world.
Courtesy photo
