SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Often in life people hope to leave the world better than they found it. One woman not only left life better than how she found it but she continues to have her light shine through the hard times of families at Upstate Children’s Hospital.
Marilyn C. Miller spent her entire career working in the Syracuse City School District. It was within those four walls of a school that she felt she could make her greatest impact on children. An impact that would outlast even herself, as her spirit now lives through others from patients to caregivers.
When the day came for someone to look after Miller for a change, they learned one of her last wishes. The wish was to donate $600,000 dollars in her legacy to the Upstate Children’s Hospital in honor of her parents, Frieda and Morris Miller.
The donation would only be the beginning of Miller’s legacy as her estate just provided another life-changing difference. An extra 1.7 million dollars was donated to the hospital but this time in honor of Marilyn herself.
While Miller may not walk the halls of the hospital her mission lives on in the ones who do.
Allison Della Penna has spent the past five years at Upstate Children’s Hospital and currently serves patients with pediatric burns.
“We support families through the really hard days but then we are also there on the very best days where they be happy and excited to be discharged,” said Allison.
While Della Penna and Miller may never meet, they both live a life fulfilling the same dream. To make a child’s life a little better than what it was before.
