Sister Janet Miller
Current Ministry Location –Texas, on the Boarder
Janet Miller was born May 1, 1949 in Evansville, IN to Catherine (Fehrenbacher) Miller and Clarence Miller. She had 3 brothers: Tom, Jerry, and Ron and 3 sisters: Tamara, Angie and Roxann. Janet graduated from Immaculate Conception Academy, Oldenburg, IN in 1967.
Earning a B.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN in 1974, she spent four years in Curriculum Development of a Science Program based on the day-to-day life experience of students from the rural agricultural sector and this agricultural interest grew through her experiences in mission.
Janet entered the Maryknoll Sisters August 19, 1974 at the Center. She pronounced First Vows August 15, 1976 at the Center and Final Vows March 30, 1985 in Zimbabwe, Africa. She earned a Master of Arts-Religious Studies from Maryknoll School of Theology, Maryknoll, NY in 1981.
Receiving her first mission assignment to Africa in 1976, Sister Janet taught in Nangwa Girls School and did pastoral work in Bariadi, Shinyanga, Tanzania, developing a Religious Education Program in Government Grade Schools, teacher training, and community development in agriculture and garden projects. Responding to a need in newly independent Zimbabwe, Sister Janet and several Maryknoll Sisters relocated to establish a mission presence there. She learned the Shona language and taught at Makumbe Secondary School. She discovered her “dream interest” when she enrolled in a year-long agriculture course and began teaching young people about mulching, organic farming and other agriculture methods.
Continuing her interest in Agriculture and Environment, Sister Janet joined efforts of the Maryknoll Sisters in Panama in the rain forest of Darien and Las Mañanitas .
She was well prepared for her years, 2001-2009, as Co-Director of the Maryknoll Sisters Environmental Office. Her organizational, teaching and relational gifts were used in promoting the integrity of creation. If you looked for Sister Janet at our Center you would usually find her outdoors caring for the land for which Maryknoll Sisters have been entrusted. With other woods women, Sister Janet cleared an overgrown mile and a half walking trail through the woods, oversees tree care and the wetland buffered by the property, etc. Maryknoll works with Congregations of Sisters located along the Hudson, and others in NY with an environmental priority.
In 2017, Sister Janet was assigned to ministry on the border and resides in Texas.