|
| John
E. Miller |
| NO.
17909 • 7 Sep 1927 – 13 May 2003 |
Died
in Fircrest WA
Ashes held by family |
 John
Elbridge Miller was born in Fitchburg, MA, to Elbridge and Marion
Miller He spent an idyllic childhood with his sister Shirley and
brother Donald in the small towns of Waterbury and Montpelier, VT.
John graduated from Montpelier High School, where he excelled in
public speaking and won the Statewide Oratory Contest. He also loved
acting and singing.
John reported to West Point in 1946 and managed to survive Plebe
year. He sent many letters home describing cadet life, letters his
family preserved. One of his memories was of arriving late at the
Army Navy Game. With spectators cheering him on, he raced around
the stadium in full-dress coat, arriving just as his company marched
onto the field. He walked the area a long time for that one. At
West Point, John sang in the Cadet Glee Club, performing for President
Harry S. Truman and meeting his daughter Margaret. He also sang
in a barbershop quartet, beginning his Iife long passion for four
part harmony. Roommate Clark Martin remarked that no one could believe
that such a booming bass voice could come from someone so slight.
John was commissioned in the Coast Artillery (which became Air Defense
Artillery) and was assigned to Okinawa as a platoon leader in the
97th Anti Aircraft Artillery group. He later served as the battery
executive officer for two years. According to classmate D.S. Wilson,
John, D.S., and classmate Stan Prouty were like the Three Musketeers
and became lifelong friends. During this time, John, Stan, Lake
Churchill '48, and another singer formed a barbershop quartet!
Returning to the States, John commanded a battery near Washington,
DC. He was next assigned to Ft Bliss, TX, to attend guided missile
staff officers school. He remained for three years, teaching Nike
Air Defense System maintenance. In Texas he met the love of his
life, Barbara Winter. They married in 1954, and two daughters were
born in rapid succession: Katherine in 1955 and Deborah in 1956.
In 1957, the family moved to Ft. Sill, OK, for the advanced Artillery
officers school, and then to Philadelphia, PA, where John was the
staff guided missile officer. During that tour, the headquarters
moved to Pedricktown, NJ; hence, the next two Miller babies were
born in separate towns John, Jr., in Swarthmore, PA, and Sharon
in Pedricktown, NJ. In 1961, when Barbara was expecting baby number
five, John received orders for Viet Nam. The family moved back to
El Paso, TX, where Barbara’s family lived, and ten days after
baby Jean arrived, John left for Viet Nam. Their oldest child was
only six! Barbara and the family remained in El Paso while John
served in Viet Nam for a year as combat advisor to the South Vietnamese
2nd Infantry Division Artillery. He was in charge of planning &
training and combat operations.
Fortunately, John was then assigned to Ft. Bliss, where for three
years he worked in the Nike Hercules guided missile program. In
1965, he began a three year tour in Germany, where, again, the family
moved three times from Stuttgart to Heidelberg to Wurzburg. In Germany,
John was chief of the air defense section of Headquarters, U.S.
Army, Europe. Subsequently, he was executive officer of an Air Defense
group and then served as group commander. For his services in Europe,
he received the Army Commendation Medal.
Returning to CONUS, John was assigned to the North American Air
Defense Command, known as "NORAD” , based just north
of San Francisco. True to form, that headquarters soon closed, and
John was assigned to McChord AFB, WA, in the same command. There
he received the Meritorious Service Medal.
In January 1971, John, as a 43 year old lieutenant colonel, suffered
a major heart attack. He survived but decided to retire from the
service. The family bought a home near Tacoma, WA, and John attended
the University of Puget Sound, earning a bachelor's (1973) and master's
degree (1974) in accounting. His degrees were conferred the same
two years his two eldest daughters graduated from high school! John
then went to work for the State Auditor in Olympia but left that
organization to establish his own accounting business.
John rekindled his love affair with barbershop harmony, singing
in a Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop
Singing in America District Championship Quartet: The Commencement
Bay Flounders and Seafood Conspiracy. Following the demise of the
quartet, he went into acting, even appearing as a featured extra
on an episode of the television show Northern Exposure. John and
Barbara participated in community theater productions of On Golden
Pond, The Gin Game, and many others. John’s favorite musical
roles were Alfred P Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Captain Andy in
Showboat.
In 1988, John suffered a second heart attack, followed by open heart
surgery. Using his usual determination, he soon recovered, still
busy and optimistic. In 1990, while auditioning for a play, he suffered
a full cardiac arrest. Later he would muse that not only did he
not get the part, but he was not even cast as the dead body, a part
for which he had had EXPERIENCE' 'The following years were spent
in and out of the hospital, but John still remained very active
in theater and in barbershopping. In March 2003, John’s weakened
heart finally began to fail, followed by end-stage renal failure.
He exited "stage left” on 13 May, leaving behind his
wife of 49 years, five children, and five grandchildren.
John was beloved by all and was a truly honorable man. He was a
courageous man, cheerful and optimistic despite health problems
and surgeries. Even in retirement, John lived the concept of "Duty,
Honor, Country." We were so blessed to have had him, and he
is sorely missed. Now he is truly our butterfly and lives on in
our hearts. Well done, John; be thou at peace.
- Wife Barbara and Classmates
|
USMA 1950