The Southern California aquatics community converged on the Long Beach Yacht Club on Thursday morning, Sept. 24, to say farewell to a legendary lifeguard.
Nearly 400 people gathered at LBYC, in Alamitos Bay, to celebrate the life of Richard “Dick” Miller, the iconic former Long Beach lifeguard chief who died Aug. 9 after having a stroke. He was 93.
Miller, who along with his friend, Pat Flynn, was instrumental in establishing the city’s Junior Lifeguard Program.
The program began in 1971 with 63 participants. But through Miller’s and Flynn’s leadership, it became one of the city’s most meaningful youth programs, according to Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan, with more than 800 young people expected to participate this year.
Duggan made those remarks during a July ceremony to rename the Junior Lifeguard facility after Flynn and Miller – about a month before the latter died.
Long Beach Lifeguards harbor patrol boats shoot water into the air in Alamitos Bay to honor former chief Richard Miller during his celebration of life ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
Berklee Dixson, with her father and brother, Scott and Cooper Dixson, spreads Richard Miller’s ashes in Alamitos Bay on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
A bagpiper performs at the Long Beach Yacht Club during the celebration of life for former Long Beach lifeguard Chief Richard Miller on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
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Long Beach Lifeguards harbor patrol boats shoot water into the air in Alamitos Bay to honor former chief Richard Miller during his celebration of life ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
But Miller’s contributions to Long Beach and the aquatics community went much further.
Miller, a Long Beach native who swam and played water polo for Wilson High, served as a seasonal lifeguard for the city from 1950 to 1974. His seasonal tenure ended when city officials appointed him chief of the Long Beach Lifeguards, a position he held for 11 years. In 1984, he became manager of city marinas.
The former chief also served as commodore of LBYC, where he was remembered fondly on Thursday. With lifeguards from Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and across Los Angeles County attending the celebration of life, in fact, LBYC was at capacity – with about 75 people forced to stand.
“Can you imagine how many people would be here if most of his friends weren’t dead? The yacht club bar couldn’t handle it,” Miller’s grandson, Tommy Miller, said about the chief’s long life and enduring popularity. “Heroes live forever but legends never die.”
The celebration of life featured a bagpipe performance, eight bells being rung and Long Beach Lifeguards harbor patrol boats shooting water into the air in the bay. Scott Dixson, battalion chief for Long Beach’s Marine Safety Bureau and LBYC’s staff commodore, rowed in a vintage lifeguard dory with his children Cooper and Berklee Dixson. Berklee sat in the bow, and placed a pair of leis in the water before spreading Miller’s ashes in the bay.
Friends and family also discussed Miller’s legacy. Longtime pal John McHullen, who delivered the eulogy, showed a stack of about 140 letters that were sent to Miller’s family after his death.
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)
“He was a trailblazer,” McHullen said.
Richard Miller was born July 2, 1933, to Lilia and Vic Miller. He attended Lowell Elementary and Rogers Middle schools before graduating from Wilson High and then heading to college at San Jose State University. That’s where he met Melva Sperling, who he married in 1955. They would be together until Miller’s death – 71 years later.
After returning to Long Beach, Miller spent the rest of his life dedicated to the community. During his career, Miller started the Long Beach dive team and developed the Lifeguard Code of Ethics, among other accomplishments. He also coached swim and water polo at Poly and Millikan high schools, and served as LBYC commodore in 2013.
Despite officially retiring in 1995, he kept busy, serving on a city advisory committee that was working on a plan to rebuild the historic Belmont Pool. He also sat on the board for the Long Beach Aquatic Capital of America Foundation, which supports the city’s rich aquatic history and is working to strengthen it.
And during his life, he befriended hundreds of water lovers, including Olympic swimmer Susie Atwood and surfer Jericho Poppler, who were among those who attended the celebration of life.
It was lifeguards, however, who seemed to make the biggest impact on his life, after his family, of course.
“He would always talk about lifeguards as being his family,” his widow, Melva Miller, said after her husband died. “He always said he had a great life because of lifeguarding and could not have asked for anything better.”
That’s why LBYC was crammed to beyond capacity on Thursday morning. So the hundreds of people who knew Richard “Dick” Miller, who worked with him, looked up to him and loved him could say goodbye – to say farewell to the legendary lifeguard chief.
Columnists Rich Archbold and Jo Murray contributed to this report.