Steve Miller has spent decades leaving an impact on the Mount Vernon and Lisbon communities. However, the communities have decided that it is their turn to do what they can to help him as he faces a cancer diagnosis.

Miller currently works as the full-time custodian at Mount Vernon High School (MVHS), and for many years, dedicated his time to helping out the Lisbon High School softball team.

Steve Miller’s impact on Mount Vernon schools

Steve Brand, the principal of MVHS, has known Miller for 16 years, and in that time, Brand has only had good memories of Miller.

“He’s a custodian, which is an important job. People expect our buildings to look nice, people expect it to be kept up, and Steve does a phenomenal job with that,” Brand said.

However, for those at MVHS, it is important that Miller knows that he is more than just a custodian to them.

“This is his family. It’s not where he has to be; it’s where he wants to be. And we’re lucky to have him. We’re very fortunate to have him,” Brand explained. “He’s just part of a culture that really tries to just make sure that people know that they’re valued.”

In Brand’s first years working at MVHS, Miller made sure Brand felt special by giving him a grand surprise for his birthday each year.

“He brought this triple layer cake of some sort that was just amazing. I came to find out that he had done that for multiple people,” Brand said. “[Miller] is always building relationships and making sure that people know that they’re cared for.”

Miller cares about more than just the staff at the high school, though. According to Brand, Miller builds relationships with all the students, too, by doing things like making connections with students who struggle to do so, or by celebrating the students’ birthdays.

Additionally, Miller is the students’ biggest supporter.

“He takes care of stuff during the day while all the students are here and oversees custodial needs during lunch, and usually, he is back here in the evenings for activities, supporting kids. […] Most of the time, that’s off the clock,” Brand said.

Even when he’s not in the same room as the students, Miller still likes to pull jokes on them, especially using different voices.

Brand shared that one evening, while at the school with his own children after hours, Miller decided to pull a joke on them by evilly laughing and asking, “What are you doing in this building?” in a deep voice over the intercom.

“My kids just stopped and were like, ‘Dad, what is that?’ And I go, ‘Oh, I’m not 100% sure, but I’m about 99% sure Steve Miller’s in the building. He just found the intercom and is just trying to have fun with you,’” Brand said.

In the interviews Brand conducts when hiring new staff members, there is one thing that he looks for. Although he is not the one who interviewed and hired Miller, Brand feels like Miller fits the criteria perfectly.

“The question that I ask often [in interviews] is, ‘When your time here is done, how do you want to be remembered?’ […] I want to know whether they answer that with, ‘I want people to know that I cared. I want people to know that I was a relationship builder and wanted what was best for kids.’ And I feel like those statements summarize Steve,” Brand explained.

“We all know how much he cares, and in turn, through this trial for Steve, we want to make sure that he knows that we care, and that we’re there for him,” Brand said.

Steve Miller’s impact on the Lisbon community

Miller’s impact has not just been on Mount Vernon High School, but has reached the neighboring community of Lisbon and their softball team as well.

Rachel Robertson has been an assistant softball coach for the Lisbon High School softball team since 1999, and this season is her first without Steve Miller by her side.

“[Miller] was part of our program for years,” Robertson said. “He’d been here as long as I’ve known him. He was with the team longer than I’ve been here.”

However, Miller decided long ago that when Bob Bunting, the decades-long head coach of the Lisbon Softball Team, was ready to be done, he would be done too. Bunting announced his retirement in 2023.

“Mr. Bunting’s last year, he was done. And then, he came back to kind of help get the diamond ready last year [2025], because we were struggling to find somebody to do that. He came and did varsity games last year out of the goodness of his heart,” Robertson explained.

While helping get the field ready last year, Miller passed some knowledge to Robertson and the team’s other assistant coach, Kim Blanchard.

Although Miller wasn’t technically part of the team, he became an important part of the program and even ended up with his name being dedicated to the ballpark where the softball team plays.

“It’s just everything that he did, and things that people didn’t see. He would be down there, meticulously getting the field ready for the games, and it didn’t matter the level of the game. He would be out there getting the field ready,” Robertson said.

According to Robertson, Miller always took the time to do things like mowing the grass on the field, weed whipping, and chalking before the games took place. Once the groundskeeping work was complete, Miller would move on to grilling for the concession stand.

“People took that for granted, because when he’s not doing it—he’s not here now to do that—they don’t have somebody that’s willing to step up and grill,” Robertson said. “I’m glad we have people that stepped up to take care of the field, but we just need more people like him who did it all for nothing but because he loved the softball team and he loved Lisbon.”

Additionally, Miller showed he cared by carrying around what the softball players called his “Barney Bag,” in which he had things like hair ties for the players and snacks for Bunting.

Miller’s cancer diagnosis hit the team hard, as he has built strong relationships with the players over their years on the team.

“I know the girls were in shock when I told them. […] I wanted them to know that they didn’t hear it from a secondary source,” Robertson explained.

However, despite his diagnosis, Miller has still been determined to support the softball team when he can.

“We kind of figured he wasn’t going to help this year, just with his diagnosis and everything, but he has been at the games, which is good. I’m glad he’s been at games to watch,” Robertson said.

Before Miller decided to step back from the team, he would always be with them when he could, whether they were playing at home or away.

At the state tournament each year, Bunting decided that phones were not to be kept in the hotel rooms overnight, so in the mornings, Miller would make sure the girls were awake on time.

“He would be their alarms in the morning. […] He would be their wake-up call, and he’d pound on the doors, and we’d be sitting there—[Bunting] and I, and one of the other coaches—we’d just be laughing,” Robertson shared.

Other times, when the team would be playing at early-morning tournaments, Miller would make sure that the players were fed by bringing them breakfast that he bought with his own money.

Miller cared about more than just his own team, however. According to Robertson, Miller would make sure that, on hot game days, both the Lisbon and visitor dugouts were stocked with coolers of towels and had fans ready to go by the start of the game.

What people saw was Miller making sure that the field was ready or that he would travel with the team, but the behind-the-scenes things were what went unrecognized.

“I think what people don’t realize is the little things that Steve did. […] You know, just those little things that I don’t think people saw or realized that it was him doing that, and not anybody from the school,” Robertson said.

Without Miller around to do the little things, it takes a team to do all that he could by himself.

“It takes more than one person to do what Steve could do, and you don’t realize that until he can’t help or isn’t here,” Robertson explained. “He kind of passed it on. We do have dads that have volunteered to help with getting the field ready. But, if it’s something like, where it’s wet, us coaches are here, we’re working on getting it ready and different stuff.”

Although Miller has shared some of his knowledge, the current crew completing what used to be his work has told Robertson that they can’t get it done as well as he was able to.

“It takes three to replace one, but that’s okay; that happens. That’s how impactful he was,” Robertson said.

Robertson wants Miller to know that the team is there for him, and that if he ever needs anything, to let her know.

A CauseTeam fundraiser was started in mid-May and ended on June 30, having raised $4,386.80 of the $5,000 goal. Miller has since expressed gratitude to all who have donated to his cause and have shown how much they care about him.