BEATRICE WATTMAN MILLER, 101

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Providence, RI – Beatrice Wattman Miller, 101, died on January 30 at home. A lifelong resident of Providence and Barrington Beach, she was the daughter of Lewis and Betty Wartman, and the wife of the late Meyer S. Miller. An honors graduate of Hope High School at the age of 15, her father thought her too young to go to college immediately, so had her go for a year to Bryant. There she learned secretarial, bookkeeping and financial skills, immediately becoming the bookkeeper for many years of the family business, W & W Jewelry Company.

At Pembroke College in Brown University, she majored in the newly formed Department of Sociology and became a Social Worker in Apponaug upon graduation. She was active in alumni affairs at both Hope and Brown, serving on  reunion committees, and she was the Secretary/Archivist of her Pembroke Class of 1935.

In 1968, she received a Master’s Degree in Library Science with Distinction from the University of Rhode Island and later pursued further graduate studies at Rhode Island College and Brown University, earning her a R.I. State Teaching Certificate. She was the Librarian/Media Specialist at Nathan Bishop Middle School for 15 years. Brown named her a Class Marshal for their 2005 Commencement exercises in honor of her 70th Reunion, and this year they sent her a formal Certificate acknowledging her loyalty as a Brown Centenarian. In honor of her 100th birthday, the Pembroke Center for Women posted her oral history on their website.

A member of Temple Emanu-El, she was a life member of the Brandeis Women’s Committee, the Women’s Association of the former Jewish Home for the Aged, and the Rhode lsland Jewish Historical Society.

She was a Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League, once winning the Providence City-Wide Duplicate Bridge Championship. She was also a member of the Brown Faculty Club, and Ledgemont Country Club for over 60 years.

She is survived by her daughter, Caryl-Ann Miller Nieforth, and her son, Donald E. Miller, Esq.; three grandchildren, Deborah L. Bloomberg, R.N., Andrew L. Feldman, M.D., and Emily M. Miller; and three greatgrandchildren, Lindsey, Matthew and Alma. She was the sister of the late Irving Wattman and Edwin (Bunty) Z. Wattman, D.D.S.