Arnold Furniture founder Gene Miller remembered as 'a great man'

Gene and Dorothy Miller decided to go into the furniture business after she was hurt in a car crash and unable to continue working as a nurse.

Using money from their family vacation budget, they started Arnold Furniture in 1975 — now in its third generation of family ownership and operation.

“When they first went into business, there were 11 or 12 local furniture stores in the area. Right now, we’re the last ones still left in our area,” their daughter, Lori Brasiola, said. “We treat our customers well and we have very loyal customers. We’re servicing three and four generations of people who bought furniture from us.”

Gene Miller died Sunday, July 3, 2022. He was 88.

Miller and his wife were married for 66 years. Brasiola said her parents — he from Arnold and she from New Kensington — met at a Bobby Vinton concert in Saxonburg and were married about a year and a half later.

“She said she knew she loved him the day she saw him at the concert,” said Brasiola, 63, of Allegheny Township. “He was tall, handsome and had the best blue eyes ever.”

Brasiola said everyone who came to her father’s visitation Wednesday and services Thursday said the same thing: that her father was a great man.

“He was like a gentle giant. He was just nice to everybody. He was an exceptional father,” she said. “He was quiet, but loving. He was just perfect.”

Miller was born Dec. 19, 1933 in Arnold and graduated from Arnold High School in 1952. The oldest of three brothers, Brasiola said her father came from humble beginnings, growing up after the Great Depression.

A machinist by trade, he worked for both Alcoa and Westinghouse.

He served two years in the Army beginning in 1955, his wife with him in Germany. They came back to the U.S. early so Brasiola could be born here.

In addition to Brasiola, the Millers have a son, Michael Miller, of Export; two granddaughters, Brittany Jones and Elise Leach; and four great grandchildren, Harper and Kennedy Jones and Ashton and Aiden Leach.

All of the generations of the family have appeared in television commercials for Arnold Furniture. Brasiola said she started working at the store in 1978 and now manages it with her brother; her daughter, Brittany Jones; and Michael’s daughter, Elise Leach, all work there, too.

“I learned to treat people with respect and love the way he did, to always put your family first,” she said. “He was a good teacher. He told me to work hard and it will pay off in the end. He was just a nice, nice man. I don’t know how else to say it any better.”

Peter Ort started Ort Furniture Manufacturing in Salem, Ohio in 1957. He has known the Millers and their family since the beginning of Arnold Furniture, meeting at a display show in Jamestown, N.Y.

“Gene set a standard of the way to do things,” Ort said. “If you look around your area today, they are the major, independent, family owned and operated furniture operation in that market. Quite honestly, they are one of the premier locally operated stores. They’ve done things the right way. They’re a real credit to our industry.”

Brasiola said that although her parents stepped away from the business about 18 months ago, they stayed involved and she still ran any decisions that had to be made past them.

“We’re doing good. Covid was tough, dealing with supply chains, manufacturing problems and everything else,” she said. “The store has done really well through all of that.”

Miller and his wife enjoyed travel and visited more than 30 countries — among their stops were Egypt, Greece, Aruba, and Italy. They returned to Germany and visited Hungary, where they found the homestead of Dorothy Miller’s father.

For the last couple of years, Brasiola said they’d spend every Sunday at a cottage at Crooked Creek, enjoying dinners and going out on their boat.

“They’re memories that I’ll never forget. We spent a lot of time together,” she said. “Right now, it’s hard because the emotions are so raw. When I look back it it, it will make me comfortable later.”