Davenport Central grad Dempsey Miller named La Crosse Tribune Person of the Year

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By Thomas Geyer and Joe Orso | Thursday, January 24, 2008 |

Dempsey Miller talks and jokes around with students during recess at Logan Middle School, La Crosse, Wis. The La Crosse Tribune named Miller, a Davenport native, its 2007 Person of the Year. Dick Riniker/LA CROSSE TRIBUNE Buy this Photo

Dempsey Miller was one of Davenport school teacher Joan McShane’s shining stars.

Miller, she said, showed leadership skills at an early age, around fourth grade.

“He was very sincere, hard-working,” McShane said. “He was also very compassionate with other students in the class. He was always there if somebody needed extra help. But he was very humble. He wasn’t boastful.”

For his part, Miller said McShane changed his life one day in detention, when she talked to him about his leadership qualities. Miller believed her.

He talks about that day as a turning point.

Later, as a high-schooler, he looked at the tears coming down her eyes as he handed her the Iowa Teacher of the Year award; tears came down his eyes, too, and they embraced.

“That’s when I knew I was doing OK, when I saw that reaction from her,” Miller said.

Now, Miller is working to provide turning points to youth in La Crosse, Wis., where his efforts led the La Crosse Tribune to name him its 2007 person of the year.

Rough beginnings

It could have turned out different.

Miller grew up at 5th and Marquette streets living above his father’s business, Dempsey’s bar.

He describes himself in his younger years as a chubby class clown.

By the time he was in high school, one of his childhood friends had gone to prison, another was a drug addict and another had been killed by a bullet shot into his house from a car outside.

Miller describes his neighborhood in Davenport as being wracked with gangs and violence.

As a kid, he liked to pick fights.

But that once-raucous youngster, now 32, has been serving as the African-American Family Liaison for the La Crosse School District since 2003.

From his father and mother to the teachers and coaches who watched him along the way, Miller credits his success to the relationships he had with each.

“I kept an eye on him,” said Miller’s father, Dempsey Miller Sr., 68. “I kept him out of the bad environment in those days. He was taught right.”

There were times, he said, when the younger Miller didn’t quite see things dad’s way.

“As he’s grown up, he has come to me and apologized, saying he can see now so well and appreciate the way I raised him,” Miller Sr. said. “I wanted to raise him to be a role model for other kids.”

When his son received his master’s degree in education professional development, the elder Miller said he taught his son that whatever you do, do it from the heart.

“People can credit you for what you’ve done,” the senior Miller said, “but if you didn’t do it from the heart, there’s one man who knows you didn’t do it from your heart.”

There was Miller’s late mother, who encouraged him in school, who sometimes had to replace dollars in his piggy bank with food stamps, and who often would save Miller a couple extra bucks so he could go to the arcades on weekends.

There was church, where adults began asking Miller to talk with their children and give them advice.

And there was Mrs. McShane.

As a result of that adult supervision, the younger Miller was an all-state football and wrestling standout at Davenport Central, where he also was involved in the Spanish club, drama club, and track.

He then was a defensive tackle for University of Northern Iowa where he earned a degree in social work. He also played arena football, including a stint with the Quad-City Steamwheelers and the former La Crosse River Rats of the Indoor Football League. He also played football with the La Crosse Night Train.

Growing gentlemen

Miller said his job as African-American liaison for the schools is all about establishing meaningful relationships with the students and families he serves.

He enables communication between black families and school staff, decreasing at-risk behavior for black students and assisting staff development on diversity issues.

Miller said he took the job knowing that his background in social work and social services would be a good fit.

In 2004, he received a La Crosse Public Education Foundation grant that allowed him to start a successful after-school program for young men called “Boyz II Gentleman.”

“There’s no words that can say how much he’s done for this community since he’s been here and how many children’s lives he’s touched,” said Antoiwana Williams, who works with Miller in Boyz II Gentleman. “It’s nice to see young people who really understand the village model we’ve moved away from.”

Dirk Hunter, principal at Summit Elementary School and Miller’s supervisor, spoke about Miller’s genuine heart.

“He understands it’s about relationships,” Hunter said at the South Side Neighborhood Center. “He’s touched as many adults as he has kids.”

Roberta Stevens, president of the La Crosse Branch of the NAACP, provided meals during the 2006-07 school year for the students at Boyz II Gentleman, which meets at the YMCA.

The experience helped her function better as NAACP president, she said, because she got an up-close look at the issues facing young people.

“There’s a lot to be learned from Dempsey, not only for the children but those of us who are adults as well,” Stevens said. “He has a way of cutting through complicated and enmeshed problems to get at the heart of the matter quickly.”

‘A lot of love’

Miller considers all of the more than 7,000 students in the district to be his own. And he encourages adults to engage with them.

He has earned a reputation in the community as a bridge-builder, a gentleman and a tireless supporter of young people.

“Establishing a relationship is more than just reading a book or getting data or doing research on a particular individual,” he said. “Adults shaped and made me, so I’m trying to get that back. I’m trying to get adults to believe we can make and shape these kids. It will take a lot of time, but all interventions take a lot of time, a lot of love and a lot of consistency.”

The elder Miller knows his son has a lot of awards left to receive.

“This is just the first among many to come,” Miller Sr. said, his voice filled with pride.

McShane said she never realized she had such an impact on Miller’s life.

“But I guess I did,” she said. “I’m so proud of him. Oftentimes, your students break your heart. And then, there are others like him who excel and make a difference with other people.”

After working with children for so many years, McShane said there is only one way to make an impact.

“Lord, you have to love ’em,” she said. “That’s really what it’s all about.”

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com. Joe Orso can be contacted at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.