Sister Mary Miller ran Emmaus Soup Kitchen for 42 years. How Erie honored her service
Sister Mary Miller's compassion-laden legacy has been memorialized in east Erie.
At a Monday afternoon ceremony, city officials unveiled a street sign honoring Miller at the southeast corner of East 11th and Holland streets.
About 100 people, including Erie Mayor Joe Schember and a host of local elected officials, attended Monday's event.
It christens a portion of East 11th Street, between Holland and German streets, as "Sister Mary Miller Way" in honor of the Benedictine nun, who served as director of Emmaus Soup Kitchen from 1981 until her death in May 2023 at the age of 81.
A lifetime of service: Erie's Sister Mary Miller, soup kitchen director, dies at 81
The soup kitchen is located in that block, at 218 E. 11th St. The Benedictine Sisters of Erie run Emmaus Ministries with the help of volunteers.
Honoring community service
Erie City Council on Jan. 17 unanimously approved a resolution to designate a portion of East 11th Street as “Sister Mary Miller Way." The resolution states that the designation recognizes Miller's years of service as Emmaus' director and "her service and contributions to the Erie community."
The nonprofit S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie fishing club requested that City Council approve the designation.
Ed Kissell, the S.O.N.S.' vice president, said the organization worked closely with Miller for years on its annual fish fry fundraiser. "We felt that this would be a nice tribute, to recognize her for all the work she did in this area and through ministry to help people out however she could."
Who does the Emmaus Soup Kitchen serve?
The soup kitchen serves roughly 750 meals a week to needy individuals and families in Erie and distributes hundreds of bags of supplemental food.
Emmaus Soup Kitchen first opened its doors in January 1974 at the former Immaculate ConceptionChurch on East 16th Street. It celebrated 50 years of service to Erie’s poor and vulnerable earlier this year.
Previous coverage: Soup's on, for 50 years and counting. Emmaus Ministries celebrate with commemorative meal.
The woman and her work
Born in Meadville, Miller graduated from St. Agatha High School there and entered the sisters of St. Joseph in Erie. She made her final vows in 1969.
Miller later taught at elementary schools throughout the Erie Catholic Diocese; served as a school principal; and was the religious coordinator at St. John the Baptist Parish in Erie.
In 1979, she began working in social services, first at Community House for Women, and then, from 1981 until her death, as director of Emmaus Soup Kitchen, a Benedictine Sisters outreach initiative.
Emmaus Ministries, under Miller's leadership, grew from a single soup kitchen to include a food pantry, after-school programs, a kids cafe, urban farm and a social work program focused on women's advocacy.
"The care she so lovingly showed so many on this very street will be remembered for generations," said Sister Valerie Luckey, Emmaus' current director. "This dedication will help to comfort our hearts as we honor theanniversary of Sister Mary’s passing, just one year ago, and remember all the lives she touched.”
Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Sister Mary Miller Way: Road named for late Erie soup kitchen director
