It is with great sadness that the family of Stephen James Millner announces his passing at his home in Yardley, PA on Tuesday, May 7 at the age of 76 after a long struggle with amyloidosis, an incurable bone marrow disease. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Steve was born in Ventura, California to Dr. Bernard and Josephine (Hinckley) Millner, who predeceased him. He grew up in Trenton, New Jersey and graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1965. He received a B.A. in Fine Arts from Yale University in 1969, where he played clarinet in the Yale University Precision Marching Band. After many years of pursuing his art career, he attended law school at the University of Maine, Portland, graduating in 1978, and practicing law in New Hampshire, Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He received a Master of Legal Studies from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1983.
Steve eventually settled in Yardley, PA. Although he was a successful attorney, he never stopped creating art and involving himself in many art groups and shows. He was the first president of the very successful Artists of Yardley organization, where he served for five years. He began his art endeavors as a photographer, printmaker, and metal sculptor and expanded his style by creating mixed media and assemblage pieces and greeting cards. His works have been shown in galleries in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. His art has been on the cover of such magazines as Prime Number, U. S. 1 Worksheets, and Meadowland Review. The covers of the following books feature his art or art arrangement: his wife Marie Kane’s Survivors in the Garden and Beauty, You Drive a Hard Bargain; Israel Halpern’s The Way This River Rewinds Itself; and the anthologies The Questions Are Enough, a 2009 collection of poems from Dr. Christopher Bursk’s Master Poetry class at Bucks County Community College, and Making Our Own Light, Bucks County Poets Laureate 35th Anniversary issue. His art accompanies each poem in his wife’s book, Persephone’s Truth. Steve also designed posters for the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA, the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, the Wildwood International Kite Festival in New Jersey, and the Wright Flight Centennial Kite Festival in North Carolina. Steve and Marie were the joint recipients of the Bucks County Muse Award in 2017 for contributions to the Bucks County literary community.
Steve was an accomplished guitar player and enjoyed classical and Spanish guitar music as well as the music of the Grateful Dead. He was a committed fan of the group and relished playing their music.
He is survived by his wife, Marie Kane, two children, Philip (Melissa) Millner and Anna (Jeff) Ravasio, three stepchildren, Elizabeth (Stephen Hoppe) Kane, Sarah (Stephen) Pratta, and Thomas (Jessica Harris) Kane, three siblings, Fred (Sandra), Marjorie, and Gogi Millner, four grandchildren, five nephews and nieces, and many cousins.
A burial service was held on Monday, May 13, 2024, at Fountain Lawn Memorial Park, Ewing, NJ. A life celebration will be scheduled for June. To be notified of the time, place and date, please request information from Fred Millner at flmillner@gmail.com.
My husband was a great man! Loving,talented and brave.