Retirement-what's that? Recognizing a 75-year veteran

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Let's do the math, shall we? In 1934, when Paul Miller was 18 years old, and the country was in the throes of the Great Depression, he began teaching mathematics. He hasn't stopped since, instructing elementary-schoolers to college students in a plethora of Baltimore-area schools, including Ner Israel High School, where he's been on the staff for 51 years.

Miller is now 93 years old. That means he's been teaching for 75 consecutive years.

"I think if I stop, I'd rust apart," he told WBAL-TV news.

The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Miller attended a teacher's college, then got a master's degree in math from Johns Hopkins University, where he also served on the faculty for 40 years. He's remembered, by thousands of students spanning generations, for his humor, his anecdotes and his passion for the subject.

"I never had a math teacher as good as Mr. Miller," a blogger for the Pacific Jewish Center in California recently wrote. "He said the funniest things and had us absolutely spellbound."

Miller is also the father of seven children, whom he raised with his late wife, and 16 grandchildren. During the summers, he'd assign his kids math problems, and he tutors all of the grandkids. "Education was considered a priority," says his daughter, Lisa, who's one of five doctors in the family.

The family tried to get Paul listed in Guinness World Records, only to discover that the world-record holder for longest teaching career is a Brazilian woman who taught for 96 years. But earlier this month, Miller was given an award for 75 years of teaching by the Baltimore County Executive.

Although math is his specialty, Miller claims he's never kept count when it comes to calculating the number of days or students he's taught. So being in the record books doesn't much matter to him. "I'm already in a book of records. I'm in the telephone book," he joked with WBAL-TV.