Obituary: William Parker Miller

William Parker Miller, 89
Former harbormaster William Parker Miller has died at the age of 89.
He was born on Dec. 21, 1929, in Boston to Lloyd Parker Miller and Ruth Olsen Miller and was raised in Hull with his three sisters Helen (Loraine), Lilian, and Ann, who all predeceased him. 
Space was limited in the family home during the Great Depression, and, because Loraine was an older half-sister, she moved in with an uncle and aunt, leaving the rest of the family to dwell in the crowded add-on rooms at the family business, an auto repair shop at the corner of U Street and Nantasket Avenue. In the early 1940s, the family moved to K Street, although they rented out that house each summer and moved back into the shop. 
The family business morphed into a boat business (Miller’s Marina), and William ran that business with his father and took over after his dad retired. He also worked as an electrician and mechanic at General Dynamics in Quincy and at various marinas along the South Shore. He was an electrician for Amtrak and retired in the 1990s. 
William, who served as harbormaster for Hull after his father’s tenure, had attended school in Hull until he was of high school age; at that time, Hull students went to Hingham High because Hull did not yet have a high school. 
At age 17, he joined the Naval Reserve through his high school. He remained in the Navy, achieving a CPO E7 Status, varying between reservist and active full-time until 1984 when he was piped off into naval retirement on the U.S.S. Constitution. He served actively in Europe during the Berlin Wall crisis of 1961-1962. 
William married Katherine A. Miller in 1960. They had one son, Robert P. Miller, and he adopted Katherine’s daughter, Lori Ann. The family resided in Hull from 1960 until a move to Marshfield in 1973. That year the family joined the Marshfield First Congregational Church. His previous church was the Hull Methodist in Hull Village. 
Ever an avid dancer, William took to country music. He also had a love for photography and was a photographer for the Massachusetts Country Music Awards Association in the 1990s and beyond. 
A lifelong Mason since 1953, William was a member of many Masonic orders and chapters on the South Shore, including the Konohasset Lodge, the Daniel Webster Lodge, and the Weymouth Masonic Lodge. He enjoyed attending dinners and meetings into the fall of this year. His photographic skills went to great use within his many Masonic groups. 
His wife of 38 years, Katherine Miller died in 1998. William leaves behind his son, Robert P. Miller and his wife, Sally Smart Miller; their daughter, Katherine Anne Miller; and his daughter, Lori Ann Morse; all reside in Connecticut. He is also survived by his godson and nephew, David P Willis, and nephews Richard C. Willis Jr., Gary J. Willis, John Simons, Bruce Simons, and William Simons and their spouses. 
Visiting hours will be on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 9-11 a.m., at the MacDonald Funeral Home, 1755 Ocean St., Marshfield, followed by a funeral service at the funeral home at 11 a.m. Services will conclude with burial and military honors in the Couch Cemetery. 
Memorial donations can be made to the First Congregational Church of Marshfield Building Fund, P.O. Box 826, Marshfield, MA 02050, and by visiting the website https://www.fccmarshfield.org/.