Memorial Sign Topper To Honor Life And Legacy Of Newtown Man

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council have given its approval to the borough’s second memorial street sign topper.

This one will honor the memory of the late Theodore “Ted” E. Miller who passed away in 2004. Miller worked at The First National Bank of Newtown from 1950 to 1996, starting as an assistant cashier and working his way up to CEO and President of the Bank.

A veteran of the Korean Conflict, Miller was a member and treasurer of the Newtown Exchange Club; the Knights of Phythias; the Christian Businessmen’s Association; the First Baptist Church; and numerous other service clubs and organizations in town.

In addition, Mr. Miller had served as treasurer of the borough for 19 years.

The street sign topper will be installed at the intersection of Norwood Avenue and Penn Street not far from the first sign topper honoring the memory of Bill Kruzen at Lafayette and Norwood.

“When I moved here 50 years ago he (Ted Miller) was Mr. Newtown,” said Councilor and former Borough Mayor Dennis O’Brien, assuring council that Miller’s contributions to the town far exceeds the requirements for a street sign topper.

In August 2021, Council adopted a policy for the placement of memorial street sign toppers in the borough.

The borough began working on the policy after resident and now Mayor John Burke requested permission to install a sign topper honoring the memory of Krusen who passed away in Feb. 2021 at the age of 97.

“I got the idea after sitting on the porch and listening to Bill,” said Burke. “And I thought it would be a great idea, not just for Bill but anyone in the community who had a life like Bill’s. When you sat with Bill it was like being with the historic society. He was just a well rounded, nice human being.”

Under the policy, which sets out specific criteria for the signage and spells out the permitting process, applicants can nominate a deceased resident to honor with a memorial street sign topper.

According to the policy, only one memorial is permitted per intersection; the sign toppers should be attached to borough poles above existing street name signage only; sign toppers should be two sided; nothing in the policy or associated with sign toppers shall cause or result in the renaming of any streets; the names should not duplicate any existing names; no sign toppers will be permitted on Washington, State, Jefferson and Lincoln; and no one candidate can receive more than one sign topper.

The policy also sets forth the qualifications of the candidate, requiring that they be deceased and have a “distinguished record” of “significant and notable long lasting impactful service” to Newtown Borough and/or the surrounding community, the determination of which will be left to the soul discretion of borough council.

In addition, the candidate must have been a longtime borough resident; if the candidate is a war time veteran the service may be considered positively toward approval, but is not a necessary criterion; and the candidate must be a person and may not be a class, a group of people, an event, place, organization, ideology or commercial interest.