Rene A. Miville, WWII U.S. Navy Combat Veteran, Opera Singer, Musician, Actor, Business Owner, Boston University graduate and, in 1996 when he was 69, the oldest man in the United States to successfully receive a heart transplant, died on September 2nd at Mass. General Hospital, at the age of 83, after a year-long battle with illness,
Mr. Miville was born in 1927 in Lawrence, MA. He was the oldest of four children born to Rene & Beatrice (Kelley) Miville. In 1932 his parents opened Miville’s Bakery & Luncheonette and the business was a fixture in downtown Lawrence for many years. He served as an able-bodied seaman on the fleet tanker YOG-70 and saw action in the South Pacific during the naval campaigns of 1944 & 1945.
He attended Baylor University. His natural gift as a baritone/bass-baritone singer led him to transfer to Boston University where he studied Opera and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduation, he worked & performed locally in the Greater Boston area and in 1951 was the first grand-prize winner of WBZ-TV’s Community Auditions “Star of the Day” show.
In Italy he perfected his vocal craft and performed in operatic productions in Milan, Como, Varese & Trieste. In 1958 he was invited to perform at the Spoleto Music Festival .
Mr. Miville returned to America and was discovered by Columbia Pictures and signed to a contract. During his time with Columbia Pictures he studied at the Actors Workshop in NY. His strong bass-baritone voice & a gift for comedy acting was showcased by performances on the Columbia Artists Tour in numerous summer stock musical comedy productions including Three Penny Opera , Camelot , Fiorello , Bye Bye Birdie , Young Abe Lincoln , Once upon a Mattress , Oklahoma & Carousel.
He was a featured soloist with Arthur Fiedler’s Boston Pops, sang with American Opera Society’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Carnegie Hall in NY, performed in Puccini’s La Boheme with the Columbia Artists Tour, sang in several productions with Sarah Caldwell’s Boston Opera Company, performed with the Philadelphia Opera Company & the Brooklyn Opera Company. In the sixties & seventies an operatic career was a hard way to make a living so René returned to the hospitality industry working as a restaurant manager at Maxwell’s Plum in NY, as the Maître d’ at The Chateau de Ville Dinner Theatre in Framingham, MA and as a Catering Manager in several locations.
In 1978 Mr. Miville started Corporate World, a management consulting firm specializing in executive search & placement for the hospitality industry. He was in business in Boston & Newton, MA for over 25 years & placed many Executive Chefs, Catering Directors, Food & Beverage Directors & General Managers in new jobs during his career. He continued to perform as a singer in local churches, synagogues and occasional nightclub appearances . For years he also donated his time & expertise singing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
He was athletic and had maintained himself in good physical condition into his mid- sixties. However, in 1994 he was diagnosed with severe cardiomyopathy and was in failing health with a heart transplant as his only hope to stay alive. In May, 1996 while in Yale-New Haven Hospital being treated for very low blood pressure & weakness,
Dr. Elefteriades found a suitable heart transplant match and Rene made medical history as the then oldest man in America to complete a successful heart transplant.
After his heart transplant his life was re-invigorated; he returned to working part-time, traveled locally in New England, had numerous visits with his sons & their family in Captiva, Florida; attended an emotional re-union with his WWII shipmates in Ohio, and visited friends throughout the U.S. He experienced a vocal renaissance
and returned to occasional public singing performances at local churches and participated in performances of the Cabaret Espresso vocal group when visiting the Krigers in the Orlando, FL area.
He touched many lives and leaves many friends who will fondly remember him from the entertainment, hospitality, religious, university & medical communities. He was known for his legendary wit & off-the-cuff humor; his many doctors, nurses & staff members at MGH will fondly remember Rene as one of the most intelligent, engaging & unforgettable patients that they cared for during his 14 year association with the hospital. He always felt that his family was his most important legacy and leaves his son Rene', Jr., his wife Marguerite, grand-children: Rene IV, Mirella & Maxime of Captiva, FL; his son Julien of NYC, his only surviving brother Peter and Claire of Hampton Falls, NH; several nephews & nieces, former wives Ella Hall of Captiva, Fl and Susan S. Miville of Charlotte, NC.
Calling hours will be on Tuesday September 7, 2010 from 5 to 8pm at The Charles F. Dewhirst Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Methuen. A Funeral Mass will be on Wednesday September 8 at 9:00am in St Monica Church, Methuen. The burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Andover.