Former Milwaukeean Donna Miller (nee Bazelon) died Feb. 16 of injuries suffered in an automobile accident in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was 74.
An artist, she frequently traveled to South Africa, where she exhibited and sold her pottery in local galleries. She also showed and sold her works at galleries in London and San Francisco.
She studied at Skidmore College in New York as well as under the tutelage of well-known artists. Her art became an occupation, an avocation and a source of social and spiritual life. As an avid photographer and collector, she was often surrounded by images which inspired her to produce artistic works.
She lived in Milwaukee from the mid-1950s until 1973, when she and her husband, Burt Miller, divorced. She then moved to Tiburon, Calif., but continued to visit family in Milwaukee.
While living in Milwaukee, she was involved in several Jewish and community organizations, including the Sisterhood at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun and the Bayside Middle School PTA.
“Her priority was always her family, her friends and her art. She was a free spirit and made friends wherever she went,” according to son Todd (Terri) Miller of Milwaukee. Son Barry Miller of Homewood, Ill., added, “She infused all of her children with an appreciation for the beauty to be found in all of the ‘little’ things which surround us in everyday life.”
She is further survived by another son, Lawrence Miller of Shorewood; sister Miriam Richman of Palm Springs, Calif.; brother Robert Bazelon of Glendale; and 12 grandchildren.
A funeral service was held in Milwaukee on Feb. 22. Burial was in Skokie, Ill.
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