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Karen Miller and JCNA

We have lost Karen Miller, one of the biggest single contributors to the growth and development of JCNA. For more than 30 years, Karen worked on establishing rules and procedures, organizing and managing events and maintaining JCNA relations with Jaguar Cars. As Associate Editor of Jaguar Journal she was always knowledgeable about affiliate club activities. Not only involved with administration, she and her husband campaigned an E-type in concours, winning the Class 4 championship. Later she switched to vintage racing in her XK 120.

As a member of Empire Division, Karen was a delegate to the AGM for the first time in 1971 and attended 23 straight AGMs. By 1975, she had become a member of the new JCNA National Concours Committee. She was co-author with Tom Hendricks of JCNA’s first concours rulebook and was involved in some way with the preparation of every succeeding edition. She actively supported the creation of the JCNA Rally Program, and arranged for the first Rally Rule Book to be written.

Karen chaired the Concours Committee for several years in the time period when the committee was JCNA’s only official body. She continued as a member when the committee became the National Administrative Committee. She was elected director-at-large in 1991 and served as Northeast Region Director from 1992-1994. She was also an original member of the Business Committee. She was the JCNA representative on the Jaguar Daimler Archive Council. Among her accomplishments:

• Working for Jaguar, she maintained the JCNA roster through 1993 and was in charge of the annual dues billing as well as keeping the Jaguar Journal mailing list.
• Created the concept of the Annual Newsletter Editor Awards
• Originated the AGM Technical Seminars and the published seminar booklets. She researched or oversaw the production and presentation of six seminars.
• Conceived and developed The Andrew Whyte Service Award
• Wrote the criteria for the Fred Horner Award
• She was promotion manager, hillclimb chair and liaison with Jaguar Cars for the 1999 International Jaguar Festival
• Associate Editor/Clubs for Jaguar Journal for 18 years

She was the ultimate volunteer.

Obituary as released today, May 23, 2003

Karen Christine Miller (Nee Kirse) passed away peacefully on May 23rd after a long illness. Born April 13, 1945 in Astoria, Queens, New York, she was the only child of Henry T. and Edna C. Kirse. She was a graduate of Pleasantville High School, class of 1962 and attended Parsons School of Design in New York. She is survived by her husband, Edward, whom she married in 1971 and her mother-in-law, Julia Miller of Hawthorne NY.

She began her career as an advertising artist but, following a lifelong enthusiasm, became a professional horsewoman, working on private estates in Westchester and Putnam counties. Also a writer, she covered the 1976 Olympics for The American, a horse publication. Her enjoyment of Jaguar and other British sports cars and their history led her to become a contributor to automotive publications including Jaguar International, Jaguar World and Jaguar Journal where she was Associate Editor for 18 years. She was a founder and organizer of the Jaguar Cars North American Archives and was named Archivist in 1991, a position she held until the present. While at Jaguar, she participated in organizing many new-car introductions and other meetings in the United States and the United Kingdom, using her broad knowledge of Jaguar’s unique heritage. She was responsible for locating the Jaguar E-type sports car donated by Jaguar Cars to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY.

For many years, she participated in vintage racing and hill-climb competition with a Jaguar XK 120 roadster prepared by her husband, Edward. Among many racing accomplishments, she set the record for fastest time by a Jaguar in the Mount Washington (NH) Hillclimb. A member of the Jaguar Clubs of North America (JCNA) and its Empire Division for more than 30 years, she served as a director, was a member of the business committee and co-authored the first JCNA Rule Book. She was also a member of the International Society of Appraisers, Mid-Atlantic Region Archives Council, International Motor Press Association and the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, who awarded her their highest honor, the Coshland Award, in 1982.

Memorial arrangements will be private. The family suggests donations be made to Hospice Inc., 374 Violet Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 and expresses thanks for their care.

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