On April 29th, past and present members of the RI Panther’s Girls/Women’s Ice Hockey Organization will hold a hockey game in memory of their former President, Fred Miller who passed away on January 26th at the age of 85.  As a life-long resident of Cranston, Fred was committed to the growth of women's ice hockey in Rhode Island.  Originally known as the Cranston All-Stars, the organization was formed in the late 1960’s and was one of the first women’s hockey organizations in the United States. 

Fred took over as President and Head Coach in 1981 and officially changed the name to the RI Panthers in 1989.  He built the program into a successful non-profit organization and ran a successful Thanksgiving Tournament for over 20 years.  That tournament brought in teams from all over the US and Canada with many participants who would later go on to play for the USA Women’s Hockey teams as well as successful coaching careers.

In addition to being the president of RI Panthers for over 30 years, he was also a past president of CLCF, on the Board of Trustees of the Cranston Public Library, and he was given the key to the city of Cranston.

Fred was a longtime Trustee of the Cranston Public Library. He served from 1987-1994, serving as Chairman of the Board from 1990-1994. Fred again served as a Trustee from 2012-2020 while serving as Vice Chair.

The game will be held at 3pm at the Cranston Veteran’s Memorial Hockey Rink located at 900 Phenix Avenue, Cranston.  Following the game will be a “Public Skate” from 4-5pm that will be open to all.  Cost for the open skate will be $5 and all donations will be going to the Cranston Public Library Association in Fred’s honor.