While the new young pastor, Murray E. Joiner, was waiting for his first pastoral assignment in the South Central Conference, his wife, Nannie B. Hammonds Joiner, was determined that her youngest baby would be born in her home state of Alabama. Victoria “Vicki” Lynne Joiner Miller, Ed.D., was born on January 18, 1965, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Assigned to four churches in the Conference, the Joiner family would attend all four churches every Sabbath, spreading the Word of God. This was the foundation on which Victoria’s love of ministry was built.
In 1972, the family moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where Victoria attended kindergarten and elementary school at Bethany Junior Academy. Victoria was an exuberant child, always happy to talk and raise others up. While the family continued ministering and establishing schools all around the South, little Victoria was right there with them, singing, playing piano, and making friends everywhere she went.
While her father worked at the Conference office in Nashville, Tennessee, and her mother was the principal at F.H. Jenkins Academy, Victoria completed her middle school years with her best friends, Marecha, Jackie, and Lloyda. After graduating from F.H. Jenkins, Victoria attended Madison Academy, where she was described as the “life of the party.”
Next, she enrolled at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University). Her fun, loving, and accepting personality drew many people in and led to her being involved in campus life. If the activity had anything to do with music, Victoria could be found singing as part of a duet, trio, or group.
She also joined the staff at WOCG as a student announcer and producer under Don McPhaull, general manager. During this time, she developed life-long friendships with Kristina, Linda, Robin, Vinette, Gina, and Joy, as well as reconnecting with her childhood friends. She joined the Oakwood College Aeolians, under the direction of Alma Blackmon, and traveled all over the country. For years, she cherished the memory of the Aeolians’ performances in the United Kingdom.
Victoria enrolled in a dual program at Andrews University for further studies in broadcast management and religion. When she completed the program, she returned to Oakwood and graduated with a bachelor of arts in communication in 1987.
After graduation, she moved to Georgia and worked as a primary interviewer for the National Business Crime Information Network for two years. After receiving a call from Roy Malcolm, Ph.D., she returned to Oakwood College and became the program director at WOCG. Her previous experience working at the station as a student prepared her to take on the more important role of training students and implementing format changes to increase listenership.
It was during this time that Victoria would marry her long-time friend, Henry “Bay” Miller, whom she had met at Camp Thunderbird. Their friendship continued through their days at Oakwood, and they would have two children, Jennifer in 1992 and David in 2000. Of all of Vicki’s accomplishments, she believed that being a mother to Jennifer and David was by far her greatest. While the marriage eventually came to an end, Miller and Vicki’s friendship lasted for the rest of her life.
After three years as program director, she became WOCG’s general manager. Under her leadership, the radio station soared to new heights. She spearheaded the largest fundraising campaign in the station’s history. Share-a-thon brought the station from an 18-hour format to a full 24 hours, acquired digital technology to assist in station operations, facilitated the purchase of a new station transmitter, and secured online streaming services so WOCG could be heard worldwide. She also managed the station’s move from the little garage on the hill to a new station complex at Oakwood’s “4920” building.
Victoria took her calling to radio ministry seriously. Her focus was to “do good radio” and train students for a career in broadcast communication. More importantly, she was committed to spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. She would do just that every Sabbath morning on her signature program Sabbath Praise, which has aired faithfully every Sabbath on WJOU for more than 20 years. With her love of both history and music, she could talk about every song she played, bringing the memories to life for her listeners. Between the music was always a message that God had put on her heart that week. Her program has been instrumental in bringing souls to Christ all over the world.
Her professional accomplishments did not stop in the field of broadcasting. At Oakwood, she served as assistant vice president of advancement & development, director of alumni relations, and the first director of the Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery. She also found her love of teaching as a professor in the Communication Department at Oakwood, as well as an adjunct professor at Alabama A&M University, Drake State Technical College, and Calhoun Community College. She would eventually step down from the radio station to teach full time.
She earned a master’s of rhetorical communication from Regent University in 2002, followed by a doctorate in educational leadership and change from Fielding Graduate University in 2011. In 2019, she was called to join the faculty of Southern Adventist University as an assistant professor of communication, sharing her years of broadcasting experience with her new professional family.
Victoria’s ministry has literally touched thousands of lives over the course of her life — countless through her radio ministry, and hundreds of students, many of whom have become award-winning news anchors, journalists, broadcasters, renowned speakers, pastors, and media personalities across the country.
Victoria Joiner Miller — loving sister, mother, educator, and friend — lived life out loud with the love of the Lord. She held fast to her faith in God and loved with her whole heart until she passed away peacefully on July 14, 2024.
Left to cherish her memory are her children, Jennifer and David; her sister, Nanetta Joiner Pressley; her brother, Murray Joiner Jr., M.D.; her niece, Joyce Bellamy, D.D.S.; two nephews, Robbie Pressley and Murray Joiner III; great nieces; great nephews; many extended family members; friends in the fields of broadcasting, communication, the music ministry; and her beloved students.
A scholarship fund has been established at Oakwood University in honor of Miller’s years of dedicated service. Contact the Office of University Advancement at developmentoffice@oakwood.edu, or visit https://give.oakwood.edu/vjoiner-mem-scholar/.
Oakwood University | November 2024
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