Adam H. Miller
Adam “Millhouse”, “Fuzzy”, “Mop Top” “Addybro” Miller passed away unexpectedly on February 15, 2021 in Santa Barbara CA, the oldest child of Babette and Eugene Miller. Adam was born in New York City in 1961. The Miller family eventually landed in Santa Barbara when Adam was 5 years old and lived there until the family relocated to Ojai, CA when he was 11 yrs old; there he finished grade school and attended both Junior High and High School. After high school graduation, Adam began an on and off again career in hospitality, mostly in the Food & Beverage industry as he had an extraordinary ability to connect with people. Adam could converse with all walks of life and everyone that met Adam wanted to be around him. He had a charming and magnetic personality that was filled with humor, kindness, a little cockiness and a smile that would light up room. Adam could banter with the best of them and he had an unbelievable quick wit that kept everyone around him on their toes!
Putting off academia to pursue adventure, Adam traveled extensively throughout his 20’s and early 30’s. He loved scuba diving and visited many of the world’s diving attractions, including the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Blue Hole in Belize. He also spent a great deal of time in Southeast Asia, Central America and in New Zealand–he bought a car in NZ, camped, traveled around for several weeks and then sold it again. Having gotten some of the wanderlust out of his system, Adam returned to Santa Barbara, attended UCSB and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications in 1995. Later, he enrolled in Law School at Southern California Institute of Law and graduated with honors in 2004. All the while, Adam continued to work in some of Santa Barbara’s most famed restaurants and bars and soon became a fixture on the Santa Barbara Food & Beverage scene.
After getting his law degree, Adam worked in the DA’s Office as well as in two different law offices in Santa Barbara. He continued to work in the restaurant and bar industry, and with his combined legal knowledge and restaurant/bar experience, he helped to launch a few Santa Barbara bars. In addition, he assisted friends over the years with various business legal-ease documents, drafting business plans and filing for liquor licenses.
Adam was a gifted athlete. A prolific runner, he ran in some of Santa Barbara’s most grueling races, he also played in a men’s soccer league and raced road bikes for many years. When Adam turned 50, he started riding motocross and loved riding the Santa Barbara backcountry and other locations across CA, UT, WY and ID. Adam felt most connected when he was in the ocean or the mountains. He was also an avid Skier and worked in some of the top Ski Resorts in New England during the mid 90’s.
As all of us have our challenges in life; Adam’s struggle with alcohol would lead him to become very involved in the Santa Barbara AA community. He both leaned on others and was someone that you could count on for support and great advice. Many who knew him said that he always had time to listen and was genuinely concerned with how others were doing. He had an enormous amount of life experience and was someone that helped guide many friends and acquaintances through their darkest times. He would engage with everyone and had an approachable way about him that drew people to him. He touched many people during his time on the planet and his absence will be deeply felt.
Adam is survived by his two sisters Abigail (Ventura), Jessie (San Francisco), brother Simon (Alabama) niece Chelsea (Los Angeles) and nieces Kayla and Jessica (Alabama), nephews Nathan, Taylor and Garrett, (Alabama).
He was preceded in death by his loving and beautiful mother, Babette, whom he revered, his father Eugene and his nephew Nicholas.
Adam will be sorely missed by his family and many, many friends who adored him, especially his crew from Ojai (many of whose friendships go back almost 50 years), his old comrades from the Charthouse, and his Brophy’s and Cliff Room family.
“Millhouse”, rest in peace, goodbyes are not forever, are not the end; it simply means I’ll miss you until we meet again.
A celebration of Adam’s life will be held in August at East beach with a paddle out to celebrate Adam’s life. We will make the date and time announcement within the next month.