Perhaps the most important factor that one can leave behind upon retirement is to have made the place they work at a better place than before.

If that is the guide, then Shirley Miller, who officially retired Friday as director of the Mississippi Adolescent Center, will be holding her head up high – and then enjoying the opportunity to sleep late.

“It feels great,” Miller said of her retirement. “It’s been a pleasure working here. I think we’ve been able to accomplish a lot. And, I get to sleep in finally,” Miller said at her retirement celebration, an event held in conjunction with the 15th year anniversary of the center Friday afternoon.

For years, Miller has directed the center, which provides comprehensive services to adolescents with intellectual and development disabilities. This includes teaching and consulting with residents that have autism, lower IQs and/or learning disabilities.

The goal of the adolescent center, and one that Miller has been responsible for during her tenure, is to return the adolescent back to their community and enable them to lead as normal a life as their assets will allow.

“We teach them basic life skills. Many of these things most adolescents take for granted. It’s a job that takes patience, love and understanding,” Miller said.

Director of the South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach, Dorothy Roberts McEwen, a work colleague and friend of Miller’s, said she will miss her but believes the center has seen vast improvements during Miller’s tenure.

“We have all seen the fruits of her labor,” McEwen said. “Shirley has been absolutely wonderful for the center and for the community. She will be sorely missed but all the things she accomplished, and the close relationships she made, will not soon be forgotten.”

Miller oversaw a facility with 32 beds. William Gates, resident services and program director for Boswell Regional Center, will take over Miller’s duties at the center in Brookhaven.