The poem on this page is a tribute to my father and his company, The First Electronics Company. The company is now 50 years old and is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

I offered to create a poem in honor of the event, from a daughter to her Father. My Dad manufactured cable assemblies and very tragicly, I lost him at the age of 12, when his plane crashed.

I am delighted to share this poem with you.

Tribute

My father, Alan Miller,
Had so much vim and drive.
He started First Electronics
Back in 1955.

That's the year I was born,
A big year in our home.
Dad was awfully busy,
As you'll hear right from this poem.

First Electronics' real big break,
The one that made them able,
Was a contract from the government
To manufacture cable.

Not just any cable, mind you,
This one set the pace.
It helped our nation get ahead
In the conquest of outer space.

Dad's cable did a bang up job,
And not a moment too soon.
It was part of the Lunar Excursion Module
Shooting pictures of the moon.

Today, First Electronics
Is, on the wheel, a mighty cog.
Consider current jobs on order,
And that impressive work backlog.

Dad's plan, right in his heart,
Was a company truly great.
Where quality meant everything,
And products were all first rate.

That's the way it has always been,
First Electronics leads the ranks.
With cable in aircraft, ships and missiles,
Helicopters and, yes, tanks.

Dad loved his work and loved his life,
At both, he soared real high.
As a father, as a chief exec,
He was truly one great guy.

Took to flying to visit clients,
Fast and first, that was his way.
Signing contracts, filling orders,
A leading role in every day.

Then one day, on a business trip,
Flying back from a critical meeting,
His plane went down in Cambridge,
Even now, the image isn't fleeting.

True to his nature in every way,
Dad steered the stricken plane,
To go down in Mt. Auburn Cemetery,
It was an action truly humane.

All in avoiding crowded streets,
And people everywhere.
He came to earth in a quiet spot,
To the end he showed great care.

When they found him, on his person,
Was a picture of his daughter - me.
You can say we lost him on that day,
Or better, that his soul was set free.

But First Electronics goes on,
You've done a marvelous job to grow.
So much success at business,
So much black ink to show.

Fifty years of commerce,
A salute to the great years you've had.
To First Electronics, and all you folks
And a nod - with much love - to my Dad.