Miller, 1950s (Sangamon Valley Collection)
Ruth “Gabby” DeFrates Miller (1917-1996) was a freshman at Jacksonville High School when she began playing high-level softball throughout central Illinois.
Over the years, she played for Jacksonville, Springfield’s Madison Furniture Co., the Springfield Merchanettes, and the Californian Packing Co. She was a catcher for the Rockford Peaches, a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, in the 1943 season.
Miller played more than 700 games in her softball career and was honored for her two decades-plus career in an Iles Park ceremony on July 20, 1956.
Miller was a receiving clerk for Sears Roebuck and Co. for 50 years before retiring in 1986. She is buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Contributor: Thanks to Anna Sielaff, local history librarian at Lincoln Library’s Sangamon Valley Collection.
Original content copyright Sangamon County Historical Society. You are free to republish this content as long as credit is given to the Society. Learn how to support the Society.