51°
Jordan Miller, 56, lived in Fort Lee and was one of the customer service "red caps" who assist people moving through the Port Authority bus terminal just across the Hudson in midtown Manhattan.
"Jordan literally died on his way to work," said Kevin O'Toole, the former New Jersey state senator who's now the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The left-turning driver of the NJ Transit bus never saw him as Miller crossed Bruce Reynolds Boulevard (formerly Bridge Plaza South) on Lemoine Avenue, a little over a block from the GWB, shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, O'Toole said.
He was pronounced dead a short time later at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
"When I heard the deceased man’s name, it stopped me," O'Toole noted. "I knew him."
Miller was only five years old when he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident, the chairman said.
He'd had dozen of surgeries over the years, and was having trouble finding work, O'Toole said, but he'd never lost an enthusiastic optimism that in many ways defined his character.
Miller's brother (real name: John Anthony Miller III) was known for his roles in "The Lost Boys," "Sleepers" and "Speed 2."
Their father, Jason Miller Sr., was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright ("That Championship Season") and Academy Award-nominated actor (some may remember him as Fr. Damien in "The Exorcist").
Jordan's maternal grandfather was Jackie Gleason.
Even with that lineage, he never looked for special treatment. He was willing to take any job and even "start at the bottom rung," O'Toole wrote in a tribute. All he wanted was to provide for his then-young son, he said.
"He was as grounded and as real as it gets," O'Toole added.
The senator shopped Miller's resume around, promising him that it "wouldn't leave my desk until he attained that job."
It remained there awhile.
As fate would have it, Miller landed a red cap job at the Port Authority terminal -- without intercession -- in October 2011.
"Jordan didn’t mind taking complaints from sometimes angry riders," said O'Toole, who went on to become chairman of the authority in 2017. "By all accounts, he was a hard-working, model employee and did everything that was asked of him."
Miller was an avid runner who completed 13 straight New York City marathons, "which says something about his focus and commitment to a goal," he noted.
O'Toole recalled going backstage at a Broadway revival of “That Championship Season," which featured Patric, Brian Cox, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth and stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan.
“Thank you, senator, for helping my brother," Patric told him. "He loves his job and he loves his life.”
Miller leaves his 19-year-old son, his partner, Julie Shrey, his mother, his brother and sister, and many loving family members, friends and colleagues.
Arrangements had yet to be announced late Friday afternoon.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Newark and receive free news updates.
