Amherst, Jeanette Miller, of Amherst, Massachusetts, lost her battle with cancer and passed away on Saturday, October 27, 2018. Jeanette was born Mary Jeanette Mayes in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Allen and Bertha Mayes. She attended Tucker Junior High School and Pittsfield Regional High School where she excelled academically and received the Pittsfield High School Scholarship. From there she went on to Simmons College where she received a B.S. degree in physical therapy and later to New York University for a graduate degree in pediatric physical therapy.

Jeanette had a great love of music and having benefitted from a series of music scholarships and grants, she received a solid grounding in theory, voice and piano. But it was the area of classical music where she excelled, using her soprano voice to captivate audiences in concerts and operas. Jeanette was intrigued by the impassioned music of slaves and plunged into extensive research of the American spiritual, which led her to be recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on the music and to put out an album titled ‘No Man Canna Hinder Me.’

Jeanette was also interested in the subject of aging, especially in women, and after research and interviewing her female neighbors, she wrote and published a book on it, titled ‘Women of Clark House, The Art of Positive Aging.’

She is survived by three sons, Michael, Jonathon, and Robert; two grandchildren, Jacob and Sage; and one great-grandson, Dominick.

Calling hours will be Wednesday, October 31, 2018 from 4-6pm at the Douglass Funeral Service in Amherst. A funeral service will be held at 10am on Thursday, November 1st at the First Congregational Church in Amherst. Burial will be in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, with a reception to follow.