Dick Miller, a legendary Long Beach chief lifeguard who strengthened and protected the city’s rich aquatic history for generations of people, died on Sunday, Aug. 9. He was 93.
“Our family was with him at the end,” said Melva Miller, his wife of 71 years. “I held his hand as he passed away in our home.”
Her husband, she said, had a stroke on July 16 after an emotional and inspirational dedication of Long Beach’s Junior Lifeguard Facility in honor of him and his longtime friend, Pat Flynn.
“The stroke was unexpected and sudden,” Melva Miller said. “Dick’s health continued to decline after the stroke, and we finally put him in hospice at our home.”
Dick and Melva still lived in their longtime home in Alamitos Heights, near the Colorado Lagoon where Dick did his first lifeguarding.
From left, Dick Miller and Pat Flynn attend a dedication ceremony of Long Beach’s Junior Lifeguard Facility in their honor on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Miller and Flynn were instrumental in establishing the City’s Junior Lifeguard program in 1971. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Dick Miller is emotional during a dedication ceremony of Long Beach’s Junior Lifeguard Facility on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Dick Miller is a retired lifeguard, wearing his gifted retirement watch, has a long history with the organization in Long Beach. (File photo by Brittany Murray)
From left, Councilmember Kristina Duggan, City Manager Tom Modica and Mayor Rex Richardson pose for a photograph with Dick Miller and Pat Flynn during a dedication ceremony in Long Beach on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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From left, Dick Miller and Pat Flynn attend a dedication ceremony of Long Beach’s Junior Lifeguard Facility in their honor on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Miller and Flynn were instrumental in establishing the City’s Junior Lifeguard program in 1971. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
A celebration of her husband’s life will take place from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Long Beach Yacht Club.
Accolades about Miller’s life poured in as news spread of his death.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said Miller made “a lasting impact” on generations of young people in Long Beach.
“His vision helped build our Junior Lifeguard program from just 63 participants into a nationally recognized institution rooted in leadership, service and a love for our coast,” Richardson said. “My deepest condolences are with his family, friends and the entire aquatic community.”
Bob Piercy, commodore of the Long Beach Yacht Club, said Miller made LBYC better.
“Dick Miller was one of those special people who made the LBYC a better place simply by being part of it,” Piercy said. “As commodore, Dick never needed to be the loudest person in the room or stand up and tell everyone what to do. He led by example. We will miss his steady presence, his willingness to help and the example he set for all of us. I will miss seeing him around the club and having the opportunity to learn from him.”
Gonzalo Medina, Marine Safety Chief, said Miller “cared deeply about lifeguarding and the community.”
He said his first encounter with Miller was in the summer of 1995, his rookie season as an ocean lifeguard.
“He walked into lifeguard headquarters carrying a large pink box of doughnuts,” Medina said. “He was soft spoken and kind and offered me some lifeguarding advice to the effect of ‘keeping people off the bottom.’ It was the first of many pieces of advice he would offer over the years. After the establishment of our junior guard program, visiting a beach on a hot summer day became a lot safer. A generation of future lifeguards can be attributed to the inception of this program.”
Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan said Miller and Flynn did more than just start a program.
“I am saddened by the passing of Chief Dick Miller, a true legend as a Lifeguard and Chief,.” Duggan said. “He helped shape generations of lifesavers with the Junior Lifeguard program and left an aquatic legacy with his dedication to Long Beach. He will be deeply missed.”
Jim Hankla, former Long Beach city manager, was the assistant city manager in 1974 when he recommended that Miller be appointed as chief lifeguard. City Manager John Mansell
Miller was “the soul of Long Beach aquatics,” Hankla said from his home on Monday. “I never had a day of regret in recommending him for that position. Dick was a great person and a great leader.”
David Murray remembered that when Miller was elected as Yacht Club commodore in 2013, he made him chair of the Congressional Cup and directed him to focus on the experience of Yacht Club members at the event.
“As a result, that was the first year we had ride-alongs offered to spectators at the race,” Murray said. “Spectators rode in the boats. It was exciting. Dick always put people first.”
Miller was born at Seaside Hospital, now Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, in 1933.
Growing up around water, it seemed natural for Miller to follow in the footsteps of two other Long Beach lifeguard legends – his father, Vic, known by his nickname, Silver Fox, and his uncle, Roy
Miller, also known as Dutch, whose lifeguarding days went back to 1918. Dutch Miller, an Aquatic Hall of Fame inductee, served for 48 years keeping waters safe for swimmers.
Back in those early days, the Millers — Vic and Dutch — set the standard for lifeguard services, including construction of lifeguard towers and dories for rescues.
Dick Miller would always remember this advice from his Uncle Dutch: “These families at the each, at the end of the day, they expect to go home all together. Your job as a lifeguard is to see that they do.”
Of his many achievements in lifeguarding, he was especially proud of the role he played in opening the lifeguard program to women.
“That was very special to him,” his wife said.
As a coach of female swim teams, he knew that women were more than capable of the demanding running and swimming fitness tests to qualify for lifeguard.
Although the time Miller spent in lifeguarding in his early years may have seemed like it was a fulltime job, Miller’s job at that time was teaching high school history. He also was assistant water polo and swimming coach at Poly High and then head coach for swimming and water polo at Millikan High.
Miller discontinued his teaching career in 1974 when he was named chief lifeguard, which was a fulltime position. After that job, he became director of the Long Beach Beaches and Marina, retiring in 1995.
As a student, he attended Lowell Elementary, Rogers Middle and Wilson High, where he was captain of the swim team and co-captain of the water polo team.
While attending San Jose State, Miller fell in love with Melva Sperling who was going with a Stanford University swimmer. In his typical jovial way, Miller said that guy beat him in the swimming finals, “but I got Melva.”
Dick and Melva recently celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary. They got married in 1955.
What was their secret to their longevity together?
“Our secret was that we loved each other so much,” she said. “We supported each other. We both were people persons. He had a great sense of humor. He also was a worrier, but in a good way. Worrying about how we were doing as a family with the kids and their kids. That sort of thing.”
Melva Miller is a Long Beach icon in her own right for her volunteer work with the Long Beach Assistance League, where she was once the organization’s president. Tragedy struck the couple when Tori and Melissa, two of their three daughters, died of cancer.
Dick Miller had been a fitness enthusiast all his life, including strenuous 2,000-yard workouts in the Yacht Club’s pool until a few years ago.
That fitness helped him in 2022 when two thugs beat him up and robbed him of his expensive Rolex wristwatch, a gift he received when he retired as lifeguard boss in 1984.
He had just played a great round of golf at nearby Little Rec Park and was relaxing in a chair on the front porch of his home when the two robbers attacked him. They got the watch but couldn’t get his wedding ring and college graduation ring off his finger.
Melva Miller had been in the garden, but when she heard her husband crying for help, she ran to the porch and scared away the men before they could do any damage.
“Once again, Melva saved my life,” Dick Miller said proudly of his wife. “She’s been doing that all my life.”
Lifeguards later bought Dick Miller a new Rolex.
Despite the mugging, Miller kept his sense of humor.
“The next time I play golf at Little Rec, I may need a police escort,” he said with a laugh.
Melva Miller said she and her husband talked a lot about his years in lifeguarding.
“He would always talk about lifeguards as being his family,” she said. “He always said he had a great life because of lifeguarding and could not have asked for anything better.”
In addition to his wife, Melva, and daughter, Jennifer, Dick Miller is survived by five grandchildren — Tommy Barnes, Tatum Bridge, Jack Busch, Cameron Cordial and Miller Cordial — and great-grandchildren Tory Adair, Bryan Adair and Benjamin Bridge.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests people donate to one of three organizations: the Long Beach Lifeguard Association, the Long Beach Junior Lifeguard Program, and the Aquatic Capital of America, Long Beach.
Columnist Jo Murray contributed to this obituary.