Byron-Bergen Central Schools has named two alumni to the district’s Hall of Fame for 2017. Dr. Paul Brill (class of 1982) and the late Barry Miller (class of 1983) join the ranks of other distinguished Byron-Bergen alumni honored with a place in the Alumni Hall of Fame for their achievements after graduation.
The Byron-Bergen Alumni Hall of Fame recognizes the accomplishments of the district’s graduates, providing young people with positive adult role models and showing that graduates of Byron-Bergen can achieve high levels of accomplishment in their lives. This honor is in its 14th year and has become part of the school district culture. It is a permanent reminder to students about the outcome of hard work and diligence.
While at Byron-Bergen, Dr. Brill was involved in junior varsity and varsity baseball and track, along with Boys’ State. He also participated in peer counseling, yearbook planning and the Campus Life Club. After graduation, he attended Roberts Wesleyan College for two years prior to transferring to The College at Brockport where he graduated summa cum laude in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.
He obtained his medical degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, graduating magna cum laude in 1991. Dr. Brill served an internship in internal medicine at Allegheny General Hospital and residency training in diagnostic radiology at the University of Cincinnati. He switched career paths in 1994, and returned to Allegheny General for his neurology residency. An additional fellowship year of training in neuromuscular was done at Duke University.
In 1998, he joined Anderson Neurological Associates (a group practice in Anderson, South Carolina), and has worked there as a neurologist ever since. Dr. Brill serves as the Neurology Clinical Director for the Medical University of South Carolina – AnMed Campus. He also has a teaching responsibility at The Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
In 2014, Dr. Brill received the Patients’ Choice award, the Compassionate Doctor Recognition award, and was selected as one of the Top 10 Doctors in the State of South Carolina. Dr. Brill and his wife have two children, and are active in their local church and home school association.
In consideration of his civic duty and his dedication to healthcare and human services, Dr. Paul Brill serves as an inspirational role model to the youth of Byron-Bergen.
Barry Miller was Byron-Bergen’s senior class president in 1983, and worked with the lighting and sound crews for school musicals. He attended Genesee Community College and, in 1985, earned an Associate of Applied Science in computer repair technology. Three years later, he received a Bachelor of Science in organizational management. Miller was part of the graduating class of Leadership Genesee in 2008.
From 1986 through 1995, he worked at Business Methods, Inc., working his way up to the position of vice president of customer support. In 1996, he started Miller Millworks, Inc., his own company that provided cabinet and finish carpentry in Bergen. Additionally, he was one of the proprietors of the Beaver River Lodge in Stillwater, New York.
Miller served as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) for Bergen Volunteer Fire Department from 1983 to 2015, having held the position of president, secretary and a member of the Board of Directors. A dedicated member of the rescue squad, he served as lieutenant, captain and assistant chief. Miller also started the Bergen Fire Department EMT Explorer program, where he mentored members and provided training for becoming an emergency medical technician.
He served as one of the Genesee County coroners and was a member of the Bergen Town Board, Bergen Business and Civic Association, and Bergen United Methodist Church.
Miller was killed in 2015 while responding to an emergency call with the Bergen Fire Department. In 2016, through legislation proposed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, Congressman Chris Collins, and signed by then-President Obama, the Bergen Post Office was renamed the “Barry G. Miller Post Office.”
Miller was posthumously awarded the Liberty Medal, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an individual by the New York State Senate. The award is given to individuals who have merited special commendation for exceptional, heroic, or humanitarian acts on behalf of fellow New Yorkers.
Miller continues to inspire the youth of the Byron-Bergen learning community through the legacy of his love, service and support for the people in his hometown of Bergen and his passion and dedication to helping others.
The 2017 Byron-Bergen Alumni Hall of Fame inductees will be honored on Wednesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. in the Byron-Bergen High School Auditorium. Dr. Brill and a member of the Miller family will briefly speak to students and receive their Alumni Hall of Fame plaques during the school’s National Senior Honor Society induction ceremony. Dr. Brill will spend the day visiting with Byron-Bergen students and sharing how his school experience influenced his life.
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