Lost & Found Grief Center Executive Director Mark Miller Talks Leadership

On what drew him to this role

In 2019, my son Luke died at age 20. He had a seizure in his sleep. My wife and I attended counseling here at Lost & Found Grief Center for more than a year. I just really have a heart for Lost & Found and consider myself fortunate to be able to lead a great organization with such a strong mission.

On his vision for the role

My background is communications, so I want to use those skills to raise the awareness of Lost & Found’s therapeutic support services. One in 10 children in Missouri will suffer the loss of a parent or sibling by age 18. I want to make sure we are serving families who need us and the needs of our community.

On what inspires him

This Friedrich Nietzsche quote inspired me and gave me hope in the early couple of years following the loss of Luke: ‘To live is to suffer. To survive is to find meaning in the suffering.’ If through that experience more people can access our therapeutic grief support services, then I’ve found some meaning in the suffering that I’ve gone through by losing my son.

On advice for his younger self

What you want to do for the rest of your life when you’re 18 or 22 probably isn’t going to be what you do into your 50s or 60s. Continue learning from people along the way and know you may go through career changes. If you’ve treated people well along the way, they will be there cheering for you and willing to help.

What people are surprised to learn about him

I’m a big fan of live music. I’ve seen U2 four times. I’ve also seen the Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, and The B-52’s. I saw Dead and Company, members of the Grateful Dead with John Mayer on lead vocals and lead guitar, in 2019, about six months after my son passed. We’d always talked about going to see Dead and Company, so my younger son and I saw them at Folsom Field in Boulder where I went to college, which was fantastic.