Terry E. Miller

Terry E. Miller, of Kent, OH, passed away unexpectedly on October 1, 2025. Terry was a professor of Ethnomusicology at Kent State University from 1975 to 2005. His worldwide research in traditional music and cultures, and his mentorship of generations of students, leave a deep legacy in the music field.

Terry was born in Dover, OH on February 19, 1945, to Max T. Miller and Anna Lou (Ellis) Miller. He studied music, majoring in organ performance at The College of Wooster, where he met his first wife Elizabeth Limkemann. They had two daughters, Sonia and Esther. Terry married Sara Stone in 1985, and they shared 40 happy years together. Terry was drafted into the US Army in 1968 and was sent to Long Bin Base in Vietnam in 1969. He discovered and became fascinated with Southeast Asian music during this deployment. After completing his Master’s Degree at Indiana University with a thesis focused on American traditional shape-note singing and the singing-school master Alexander Auld, he returned to Southeast Asia for fieldwork for his doctoral degree, living in Maha Sarakam, Thailand with his family from 1972-74. He focused on the traditional Northeast Thai/Lao instrument called khaen, completing his dissertation “Khaen Playing and Mawlum Singing in Northeast Thailand” at Indiana University. In 1975 he began his academic career at KSU, where he built the world music program along with William Anderson, Halim El Dabh and others. He established the Kent State Thai Ensemble, for many years the only Thai ensemble at an American academic institution, and the Kent State Chinese Ensemble.

In addition to Thailand, Terry did field research along with his wife Sara in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Myanmar, as well as in China, another major area of specialization. His other major research interests included oral-tradition American hymnody, shape-note singing, the tradition of lining out among both black and white congregations, and the singing of the Church of God and Saints of Christ. This led him to conduct research in the United States, Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Vincent, Scotland and South Africa, again with his wife Sara. Terry wrote and/or edited many books, encyclopedias, and journal publications, including The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Southeast Asia volume with Sean Williams and the textbook World Music: A Global Journey with Andrew Shahriari.

Terry’s other lifelong interest was covered bridges. As a child, his father took him to visit and photograph covered bridges around Ohio. Terry quickly became an expert on covered bridge histories and construction techniques and was one of the founding members (as well as the youngest) of the Southern Ohio Covered Bridge Association (now the Ohio Historical Bridge Association) in 1960. He applied his rigorous research and fieldwork training to covered bridges, writing several books on the region. After retirement, Terry’s scope of covered bridge research expanded. He joined teams of experts and photographers along with Sara on extensive tours of China, Europe, and North America to visit hundreds of bridges. From these trips they published two beautifully illustrated and highly informative books: China’s Covered Bridges: Architecture Over Water and America’s Covered Bridges: Practical Crossings – Nostalgic Icons. His last major publication and Covid-era project, with Ronald Knapp, was a 500-page history of Theodore Burr, a prominent 19th century bridge builder.

Terry and Sara spent a considerable amount of time in Thailand on a yearly basis where they have a diverse community of close friends and acquaintances. Terry was a friend to many, maintaining decades-long friendships with many people around the world. He was a devoted teacher and mentor to many who studied and worked with him, maintaining strong connections with many of them years after they graduated. The impact of his scholarship, the knowledge he produced, his contributions to the profession, and the integrity with which he worked, will continue to be felt for many years. He was also an affectionate husband, father, brother, grandfather, and uncle, and enjoyed golf, travel (usually involving covered bridges), good food, and ice cream cones with family. His pie-making skill was legendary, as was his dry quirky sense of humor.

Terry is survived by his beloved wife Sara and their three cats; his daughters, Sonia (Robert) Srichai and Esther (Robert) Thatcher; his grandchildren, Blake, Fiona, Samantha, Ryan, and Simona; his sister Ellen Matics; cherished sister-in-law Susan Miller, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and his siblings Judy Garza and Jeffrey Miller.

Calling hours will be Friday, November 14, 2025, from 5:00-7:00PM at Bissler and Sons Funeral Home 628 W. Main St. Kent, OH 44240. Memorial services will be Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 11:00AM at The United Methodist Church of Kent, 1435 E. Main St. Kent, OH 44240.

Services in the care of Bissler and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, 628 W. Main St. Kent, OH 44240.