Blessed Brother James Miller, martyred in Guatemala at age 37, was born September 21, 1944, in Wisconsin. Ordained to the Lasallian Christian Brothers in 1969, his first assignment was as a teacher at Cretin High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. During the three years he was there he taught Religion, English, Spanish, and coached the school’s soccer and football teams. Despite his success at Cretin, his deepest desire was to serve the poorest of the poor as a missionary educator.
 
Eventually the Lasallians sent him to Nicaragua where he served for 19 years. During his time in the country, he supervised the construction of ten new rural schools, helped build an industrial arts and vocational complex, and worked with the Nicaraguan Somoza government on education initiatives. During his time as director of a school in Puerto Cabezas he increased the school’s population of students from 300 to 800!
 
In 1979, when the Sandinistas revolution began in Nicaragua, the Lasallians recalled him to the United States for his own safety. Despite his displeasure at this reassignment, he returned to Cretin High School in St. Paul as a teacher but longed to go back to the mission field, writing to his superiors, “I am anxious to return to Latin America.”  By 1981 his order would grant his request and send him to a new country, Guatemala, where he taught English, Religion, and Guatemalan art to secondary students at a Lasallian Brothers school in Huehuetenango. He also established relationships with local families, often the poorest of the poor, teaching job and leadership skills to native adults.
 
On the afternoon of February 13, 1982, while out fixing a school fence post, Brother James Miller was murdered. He was shot several times by three men and died instantly in broad daylight in plain view of many of his students. His assassins were never caught. Some claim his murder may have been because of his order’s work to prevent the government from illegally and forcibly conscripting native men into the military. His death came during a time when other priests and religious figures were also being assassinated in Guatemala. The Brother James Miller Fund was established after his death to continue his work for the poor and oppressed and in 2018, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing Brother Miller as a martyr.