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Harold “Hal” Lister Miller, the Falls Church mayor who cut the ribbon on the first section of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Bike Trail, died July 15, 2026, at Spring Arbor of Fredericksburg. He was 96.
Miller’s fellow city council members unanimously elected him mayor in 1974, and he served three terms through 1980. His very first official act set the course for one of Northern Virginia’s most beloved recreational corridors: on Sept. 7, 1974, he opened the initial mile-and-a-half stretch of what would become the 45-mile W&OD Trail.
“My aim was to reflect the attitudes of the people, and lead the City along paths reflecting their aspirations,” Miller once said of his tenure.
From Lumber Broker to Public Servant
Miller moved to Falls Church with his wife, Ruth, in 1964. The couple raised six children while running a lumber brokerage from their home for three decades—an arrangement that gave Miller the flexibility to serve the city in multiple roles.
He won his first council seat in 1971. As mayor, he partnered with the Falls Church Community Services Council to persuade Winter Hill housing owners to designate 80 one-bedroom units as federally subsidized senior housing.
Miller became a fixture at the city’s Memorial Day celebration, climbing into a dunk tank so residents could take their shots at him. His family regularly joined the event’s 3K race.
Regional Influence and a Run for Congress
In 1975, Miller joined the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments board and became its chairman two years later. That same year, the Society of American Military Engineers honored him with its Civil Defense Award for emergency disaster planning across the Washington region.
Miller sought the Republican nomination for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 1980, losing the primary to Frank Wolf. The two later became friends.
He returned to elected office in 1989 as Falls Church Commissioner of the Revenue, serving three terms over 12 years. He modernized the office’s computer systems and established a process integrating the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Taxation to speed tax refunds.
Marine Veteran of the Frozen Chosin
Born Jan. 5, 1930, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Miller enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1949 and attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served 14 months during the Korean War, surviving the brutal Battle of the Chosin Reservoir as one of the “Frozen Chosin.” His decorations included the Presidential Unit Citation with One Bronze Service Star, the Korean Service Medal with Two Bronze Stars, and the United Nations Service Medal.
Miller met Ruth Marye Wall in October 1954, and they married June 11, 1955, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alexandria. After his 2001 retirement, the couple moved to Winchester, where Miller remained active with local veterans and Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church.
Faith and Family
Miller was deeply involved at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, helping start the Community of God’s Love Prayer Group in 1971 and serving as a Eucharistic Minister. During the 1980s, he served on a search committee that found the property for Aurora House, a home for at-risk teenage girls.
His family said his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the legacy of which he was most proud.
Miller is survived by his children, Maureen Gallagher-McLeod, Sharon Brown, Kellie Alpaugh, Melissa George, Patricia “Trish” Brebenel, and James Miller; 16 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth.
A visitation will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church, 5911 Fairview Woods Drive, Fairfax Station, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. Interment with military honors will take place at Fairfax Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to DementiaMatters, P.O. Box C, White Post, VA 22663.