University Times

Felix H. “Bebe” Miller, a retired clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine and a volunteer fundraiser for the University, died April 25, 2005, from myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. He was 76.

“He injected humor in day-to-day interactions and this made him an effective educator,” said Steve Caritis, director of maternal-fetal medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, School of Medicine. “Bebe was outgoing and friendly and highly dedicated to medical students and residents.”

He received his B.S. degree in 1951 and his medical degree in 1955, both from Pitt.

Miller served with the Navy’s Sixth Fleet Destroyer Squadron Four as a physician. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1958 to train in obstetrics at Montefiore Hospital. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital.

He had an obstetrics and gynecology practice in Oakland from 1962 to 1998.

Miller joined Pitt’s faculty in 1959 as a clinical instructor, retiring in 2004.

Among other fundraising activities, Miller served as the leadership giving liaison of the Medical Alumni Association executive committee and president of the executive committee.

Miller was a driving force in the Scope and Scalpel Society — established in 1951 and comprised of senior class members of the medical school — that stages a play satirizing medical school life. “This play became a major event in the lives of senior medical students and the medical community,” said Donald Carson, an obstetrician at Magee-Womens Hospital as well as a student and colleague of Miller’s. The Scope and Scalpel Society became so popular in the late 1970s that Friday and Saturday performances sold out and rehearsals were near sell-outs, he recalled.

“Bebe was vibrant and totally involved in any project he undertook; his enthusiasm was infectious,” Carson said. “You couldn’t be around Bebe without being excited about what he was excited about,” he added.

Miller is survived by his wife, Gwen Davis Miller, sons Andrew and Thomas Miller, and a brother, James Miller. Memorial contributions can be made to the Hillman Cancer Center, 5115 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh 15232, or to the Gwen and Bebe Miller Scope and Scalpel Award, Medical Alumni Association, M-200 K Scaife Hall, Pittsburgh 15261.

—Mary Ann Thomas