Miller served as a teacher first in Cretin High School before being sent to teach in Bluefields in Nicaragua where he remained until his superiors ordered him to leave.

He was requested to leave his work in Nicaragua due to political tensions that put Miller at risk of being killed, but he was frustrated to be sent back to his native home, where he remained for some time to teach.

[1][2] He was known for his construction and practical abilities to the point where students at Cretin High School referred to him as "Brother Fix-It."

[4] James Alfred Miller was born premature on September 21, 1944, to farmers in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; his siblings included his brothers Bill and Ralph and sisters Pat Richter and Louise Shafranski.

[1] In 1969, he was sent to Bluefields, Nicaragua, where he taught in schools until 1974 when he was sent to Puerto Cabezas and helped build an industrial arts and vocational complex.

This was exacerbated due to Miller's work with the Somoza government on education initiatives, which placed him at immediate risk of being a Sandinistas victim.

Miller was frustrated with his time back in his native home and wrote "I'm bored up here” and "I am anxious to return to Latin America.

He had sent a student inside to get a tool to aid his work; several children witnessed the murder while watching Miller from a window.

Unsuccessful attempts were made to find the assassins and the Guatemalan government expressed regret the case had dragged on for so long.

Joslin later recalled that Miller came to his office in the morning, just hours before his murder, to inform him that he was going on a picnic with his class later that afternoon.

But the formal introduction to the cause came on December 15, 2009, under Pope Benedict XVI after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declared "nihil obstat" ("nothing against the cause") and titled Miller as a Servant of God.

The La Crosse diocese sponsors an annual Brother James Miller Social Justice Award.