Maya Miller, 90, progressive activist

Maya Miller, a philanthropist who championed women’s rights along with many environmental, liberal and progressive causes for decades, died Wednesday at her Washoe Valley ranch home. She was 90.

Miller had been in failing health for several months, and her condition had worsened as a result of a fall in early May.

“She had compassion for everyone, especially for the people who have it the roughest – women and children,” said her daughter, Kit Miller. “They were her No. 1 priority.”

Miller lived simply at her ranch, donating millions of dollars of her inherited wealth to both state and national groups.

Miller’s activism won her a spot on then-President Nixon’s “enemies list” during the Vietnam War era. A board member of the national League of Women Voters, she resigned when the league voted down an anti-war resolution in 1969.

Miller also was a founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Women’s Campaign Fund and an early backer of Emily’s List, which supports women candidates in national races. She ran for U.S. Senate herself in 1974, losing in the primary to now-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

In 1991, Miller was among several women who broke a U.S. embargo and trucked about $100,000 worth of medicine and food to Iraqi women and children. She helped drive one of the trucks from Jordan into Baghdad.

Miller was raised in Southern California and moved to Nevada in the early 1950s. She had a master’s degree in English literature from Cornell and did doctoral work at Stanford.

HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y.

Agnes Hiller, 102, raised 50 children

The Rev. Agnes Amelia Hiller, a longtime pastor dubbed “the Mother Teresa of Huntington Station” because of her role in raising nearly 50 children, died May 18, three days after her 102nd birthday.

Only 72 hours before her death, her grandchildren had gathered around her bed to celebrate her birthday. “It was a glorious time,” said the Rev. Bernadette Watkins, a longtime friend. “All the grandchildren came and brought her balloons and cards and a birthday cake.”

“Mother Hiller,” as she was commonly known, was pastor emerita of Mount Calvary Holy Church in Huntington Station, where she had worked in various capacities for more than 70 years. Under her leadership, the church spearheaded programs geared to young people, ranging from tutorials to help children with homework, to a rap program for teenagers and a special street ministry targeted at drug addicts.

Although she had only one biological child, a son, Hiller raised or played a role in raising nearly 50 children, many of whom had been homeless, abandoned, mistreated or orphaned, Watkins said. At age 92 she was still caring for another child who came to her in an emergency.

“One of her greatest teachings was how to love one another and be there for one another,” said Watkins. “She just touched the hearts of people, especially where they were hurting.”

Born May 15, 1904, in Maryland, Hiller first joined Mount Calvary in 1932, the year she married the late James Allen Hiller. A decade later, she became the church’s assistant pastor.

After the death of Bishop William Bryant in 1951, she was asked to become pastor but declined: A person of humility, she decided she was not ready for that title, Watkins said. When asked about the secret to her long life, Watkins said that her friend always gave the same answer. “`Loving God and being in the perfect will of God,’ she would say,” according to Watkins.

Her husband died in 1968.

Hiller is survived by two daughters, Renee Sykes of New York City and Francine Rose of Stamford, Conn., six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Her son, Walter, died in 1945.