With four children living across the country and a home on Chapman Lake, Harvey Miller will keep himself busy following his retirement Sunday.

Miller, who turned 62 Tuesday, will retire after 42 years of service at WRSW.

With his new-found time, he plans to enjoy Chapman Lake a little more and focus more on his family.

His wife, Juanita, retired Aug. 31 from the beauty salon they own after 28 years. Miller said she now does the bookwork.

"My wife has always been supportive through good moments, tough moments - always," he said.

And with their four children "spread throughout the country," Miller said, he and his wife will be busy traveling to visit them.

"We will travel more. They want us to be more a part of their lives," he said. "So I'm going to take them up on it."

But leaving his career after 42 years of service isn't easy, Miller said. "I'm going to miss the people a lot that I work with."

Part of his free time will still be devoted to WRSW. He said the plan is to "keep me on as adviser/special projects person part-time."

Miller's part-time employment with WRSW will be on a six- month trial basis, and it will then be reviewed by Miller and the station to see if it's working out.

"They've been very good about it," he said. "I appreciate them letting me stay involved."

Besides enjoying the company at the station, Miller also has enjoyed "the general public and the people we've dealt with." He said they've all "been really great."

"There isn't a week that goes by that I don't come across generous people," he said.

For instance, Miller said, WRSW just finished with a drive to collect coats for those in need. He said one lady bought three coats to donate to the drive because she didn't have any used ones.

It's this kind of "good, generous, kind people that want to help others" that warms Miller's heart for the community of Warsaw.

"It happens all the time," he said of acts of kindness. And in the future, Miller said, he hopes the opportunities to work with these kinds of people continue.

Besides the people in Warsaw, Miller also is proud of the "powerful FM station located in a small town."

Miller said difficulties WRSW has encountered include employees who want the pay of a larger town and that "people expect the quality of a larger town."

"We always strive for doing a good job," Miller said of the station, "(even though we) didn't always have the tools and money."

Miller enjoys the small-town atmosphere. He said he's made several friends through his work at the station, and at the businesses he's worked with over the years have become friends to him. Leaving his job and ending the work with his friends saddens him.

One of the things Miller said he will miss the most is "helping businesses obtain their goals (through advertising)."

"I became friends with businesses," he said. "I learned a lot about other businesses; I respect and admire people who have a business."

Miller believes small towns are taken for granted too often.

"I had the opportunity to go to larger markets," he said. "I would go to meetings in larger cities like Indianapolis."

At the meetings he learned of the pressure larger radio stations face. Management has to deal with "pressure from the top and bottom crunching management in the middle," he said.

In a small town, the pressure is much less, he said.

And a larger town is not foreign to Miller. He came to Warsaw from St. Paul, Minn., a city comparable in size to Indianapolis.

"It was quite an adjustment when we moved here," he said.

But he decided a small town is not so bad after all. He and his wife raised their four children in Warsaw, and found they were "able to keep tabs on things and kids better in a small town."

Some call Miller the "voice of Warsaw," but he says that may be "stretching it."

"I was on the air for many years as a morning guy," he said. And those who have listened to him for several years may call him that.

He started his broadcasting career in Warsaw on Jan. 11, 1958, as a broadcast engineer.

"At the time we came here, radio stations needed announcer engineers," Miller said. The FCC required a broadcast engineer to be on duty. At this point in his career, he also wrote news to be aired. In 1968, he started working in sales for WRSW, and in 1974 he became assistant manager of the station, moving up to manager in 1978.

"On May 1, 1999, we were purchased by GBC Media and I became manager of that firm," he said.

Although Miller is finishing a lengthy chapter in his life, the book still isn't closed. He retires from WRSW Sunday, but his voice will still be heard on the air through commercials and varied voice work - part-time, of course.

Patrick Brown, a lifetime Warsaw resident and longtime employee of WRSW, will replace Miller.

"He's a funny guy," Miller said. "He'll do a good job." [[In-content Ad]]