A new glimpse of grandpa Pete Miller

Sharing photographs has long been a joy of ours, and rummaging through a large number of photos shared by cousin Dori Derrick Savage during the recent Miller Family Reunion has been particularly enjoyable.

That's when we happened upon the photograph here of grandpa Pete Miller, taken in 1955 in Whitney, Nebraska.  He was 69 years old and appeared to be healthier and more robust than he would be during the subsequent two years.  Despite medical treatments in Omaha and Denver, he would not survive the cancer that afflicted him.  He died June 2, 1957 at the age of 71.

While there were several other people included in the original photograph shown here, we were so taken by grandpa Pete's smile and laid back manner, we thought we'd focus just on him.  We'll include the original photograph -- along with several other new ones -- in the Miller Gallery in coming days.

By the way, this picture was taken in front of the small stucco house that sits on Missouri Street, just across the street west from where Connell Oil Company did business in Whitney for so many years.  It was the final residence for Pete and Dora Miller, the German-Russian immigrants who sought...and found....a new life in the United States.

It's a "fer piece" from Alaska to the Lower 48!

Since the Miller Family Reunion took place last weekend in Chadron and Whitney, we've had a chance to visit with a few folks who attended -- and others who weren't able to be with us.

Then a few days ago, we received a note from cousin Debra Derrick Marsh in Anchorage, Alaska, who said she missed being able to attend the reunion and acknowledged that the "the distance between us and the States sadly makes it difficult to be a part of family events."

Thanks to Deb Marsh of Anchorage for sharing this family photo.  In the back row (l-to-r) are:
Jack Marsh, Lindsay Marsh and Riley Marsh; in front of them are Whitney Gobbi, Debra 
Derrick Marsh, and Madeline Duran; in front of them are Jack Duran, Piper Gobbi, Nicole Duran, and Aidan Duran; in front are Justen & Ryan Gobbi, baby Zoe Duran, & John Duran.

Deb's parents, Dick and Kathy Derrick, lived in Alaska for many years before returning to the states.  Deb and her family remain in Alaska, as does her brother Rik.  Sister Dori and family -- from Rapid City -- were able to participate in the reunion.  Perhaps next gathering, we'll have them all!

Deb was also kind enough to send along information about Rik, who returned to Alaska in 2004 after living in Colorado area for several years.  She says he's "loving every minute of it!"  Working as a night manager for a local Safeway store allows him to enjoy his days in the outdoors -- especially hiking and rock climbing.

Rik's in the process of writing short stories, detailing his many climbing and guiding adventures.  He is the dad of Kirsten and Christopher, who live in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

During the reunion, we were tickled pink that so many cousins came from so far away to join us -- but there were others just simply unable to make the trip.  So Deb's sharing of photographs of her family is extra special.

Perhaps it will spur other cousins who were unable to attend to share recent family photographs with us.  We'll be more than happy to include them on the Miller Archives web site.

Not only our Alaska cousins, but more from Washington, California, and Texas couldn't make it.   Some of them have new grandchildren, spouses, etc., and it would be fun to catch up with them and their activities!

So let us hear from you.  E-mail your photos and information to galeymedia@gmail.com.  Thanks!

 

Three sisters...three sad stories

Over these past many weeks, we’ve been trying to provide a thumbnail sketch of the Miller family.  That effort has come in the form of a series of short narratives – accompanied by a few pictures – of each child of Peter and Dora Miller, our German-Russian ancestors who came to the new world in search of a better life.

By all accounts, they found it, although it was not always a bed of roses.

The Miller children (L-R):  Marie, Caroline,
Alex and Hank.  (1916 - Chicago, Illinois)

And this final installment is a composite summary of three Miller children we’ve not yet  discussed at any length:  Caroline, Fannie, and Evelyn.  In fact, we have very little information about them, but will share here a bit of what we know.

First, an acknowledgement of Pete and Dora’s second daughter, Caroline.

Of the 11 Miller children, the least is known about this little girl – the fourth child – born when the family lived in Chicago.  Caroline was not yet five when the family moved to a farm just outside of Watertown, South Dakota.  Two of her younger sisters were born in South Dakota:  Fannie in April of 1919, and Bertha in April 1921.

In about 1922, the family moved from Watertown to Bayard, Nebraska.  Caroline died just a couple of weeks before Christmas, on December 12, 1922, and we believe the family was already living in Scotts Bluff County by that time.  While details of her death are not known, she is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff.

The picture above is the only known photograph of Caroline.

Fannie at about age 8, holding little sister Pauline.

Fannie Miller was born April 22, 1919 at Watertown, South Dakota.   She started school near Bayard, Nebraska, and would have continued her schooling in Whitney after Pete and Dora moved there in 1927.  As we’ve sifted through the many class pictures in our photo gallery for Whitney School, we’ve not yet been able to find a photo that identifies Fannie – nor have we identified her in any of the unlabeled school photos. 

Nonetheless, we are optimistic that we’ll yet find a photo of Fannie in a class picture, perhaps in one we’ve yet to obtain.  We added several to our collection as a result of the June 2011 Whitney School Open House, and we hope to further expand our collection in the coming months.

Fannie was nearly 10 years younger than sister, Marie, and she surely looked up to her older sister over the years of her short life.  As Fannie grew into her teenage years, she was – like her brothers and sisters – somewhat confined to the “small town” environment of Whitney.  But that would not stop Fannie – and the others – from frequent trips to nearby Crawford or Chadron, where there were more stores, more people, and more activities that would be inviting to young people.

Fannie and Lettie

By all accounts, Fannie was a bright and vibrant young lady.  She made friends fast, and became good friends with Lettie Maiden, who would one day marry her brother, John, and become her sister-in-law.

In January of 1936, when she was 17 years old, Fannie gave birth to a baby boy, Jan Richard, in Milford, Nebraska.  Tragically, while Jan was still an infant, Fannie was involved in a serious automobile accident that left her paralyzed.

While a passenger in a car on U.S. 20 headed from Crawford to Whitney, the vehicle went out of control on a curve and crashed into a ditch.  Fannie’s neck was fractured in three places.  Initially treated in the Bootjer hospital in Crawford, she was transferred to Sister’s Hospital in Hot Springs, South Dakota a few days later.

Bedridden, Fannie was soon beset with many complications.  Despite considerable medical attention to a broken vertebrae, Fannie succumbed to those complications and went to an early death in March of 1939.  She was just a few weeks from her 20^th birthday.

Jan was raised by his grandparents Pete and Dora Miller.  Two of his aunts, Evalyn and Pauline, were just six and nine years older than Jan, so he was very much like a younger brother to all of Pete and Dora’s kids.  In fact, we recall Jan frequently calling grandma Dora, “mom.”  Our story about cousin Jan is recounted in an earlier narrative.

Evalyn Miller - undated

And finally, a brief recounting about the youngest child of Pete and Dora Miller – Evelyn Ruth.

Born in Whitney on June 8, 1930, most of Evelyn’s siblings were already teenagers.  Her oldest sister, Marie, was 20 years and was married within just a few months of Evelyn’s birth.

As was the case with her sister, Fannie, we’ve been unable to locate a school photo that identifies Evelyn.  Part of that problem can be attributed to a short education.  Evelyn dropped out of school – probably around the 8th grade.

For a time in her teen years, she stayed with her brother John and family in Chadron, where she also took in ironing and probably had a job or two around Chadron. 

We know virtually nothing else about Evelyn during this time period. 

But by early 1951, she had met a young Airman stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City.  His name was John Snyder, who was originally from Minnesota.  They were married on August 26th in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Both were 21 years old and – according to their marriage registration – both had been divorced. 

When “Johnny” Snyder’s military service ended with a disability of some sort, the couple settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Twin daughters were born to Evelyn and Johnny in the 1950’s.  Marlene and Darlene Snyder were among the few twins we know of born in to the Miller family.

The Snyder twins - Marlene and Darlene

Johnny’s disability prevented him from ever really working full time, and the trail of the Snyders through the rest of the 1950’s and 1960’s is largely unknown.  His health deteriorated and Johnny Snyder died in February 1969 before his daughters were fully grown.

Evelyn later married a man named Ivan Wilson.  By most accounts, it was not a happy marriage.  Ivan and Evelyn lived in Arizona, where Evelyn died on February 8, 1984 at Camp Verde.  She was just 53 years old.

Virtually nothing is known about Evelyn’s daughters, Marlene and Darlene.  Some of the Miller family in Texas recall Marlene living in the Houston area for a while – married and with two children.  That was many years ago, and we’ve been unable to locate them regarding the Miller Family Reunion, which is now just days away.

A reminder that the Miller Gallery contains a wide variety of historical and contemporary photographs of Pete and Dora Miller – and many of their children and later generations.

As you happen across any errors of fact in the photo captions – or in the narratives contained in Miller Archives – we hope you’ll e-mail us corrections and additional information.  And, of course, we’d welcome any interesting photographs that you’d like to share with us.

We anticipate that we’ll have a barrage of new photos to post following the 2011 Miller reunion in Nebraska, so come back and visit this site in coming days.  You may find someone you know!

Remembering Fred Miller...

Fred Miller was born near Bayard, Nebraska on June 29, 1923, the eighth child of Peter and Dora Miller.  With three older brothers aged 6, 10 and 12, there’s little doubt that young Fred quickly learned to be self-reliant.  Hand-me-down clothes were a way of life, and there surely were times when Fred had to defer to his older brothers.

But when it came to meal time, Fred recalled that no one in the family ever went hungry.

“We didn’t eat like kings.  We usually had pancakes for breakfast and some kind of cereal.  We had meat twice a week – maybe three times a week.  We had eggs….we always had milk.  We didn’t want for anything.  Maybe clothes sometimes.”

Most of Fred’s memories of growing up center around the Whitney area, to where the family moved in about 1927.

None of the Pete and Dora Miller family completed high school.  Fred went through the eighth grade before dropping out to help with chores, including the grueling task of thinning sugar beets – a task almost universally disliked by the people who had to do it.

But when the kids were of school age, getting them clothed and ready to go was a chore.   Fred remembers that each fall the family would place a catalogue order with Montgomery Ward or Sears – sometimes both.  Since neither Pete nor Dora could write in English, so it was usually older sister Marie’s job to complete the order form and send it off to the store.  A large shipment would usually arrive just about the time school started each year.

Of course, having clothes was no guarantee that the kids would show up at school.  Hiding in the lumber at the Whitney lumberyard was sometimes a favorite alternative to sitting in a desk at school for Fred and his buddies.  When the family lived outside of Whitney, the kids would have to carry their lunches to schoolhouses in the country.  Potatoes were a favorite fare.

Marjorie Vogt, a first grade teacher, would have one of the boys put more coal in the stove, placing the potato in the ash pan to bake the potato.  After about an hour, they’d wipe off the ashes, wash the potato with some water, and then enjoy a baked or mashed potato.

Grandpa “Pete” Miller subscribed for many years to a German language newspaper, the Detroit Free Press.  When the newspaper discontinued its German language edition, he bought a German Bible.

“It was huge,” Fred said, “and he would read that Bible every night.”

Fred remembered that when the Miller children were small, the family did not often attend church.   Without knowing what day it was, he’d sometimes find himself at the Stone family house up near the school.

Charlotte Flock marred Fred Miller in 1942.

“They’d be getting ready to go to church, so Dolly Stone would ask, ‘You want to go to church with Bill?'   I’d say sure, so I’d go to church with them.”

Responding to the suggestion that Pete Miller was strong willed and stern -- and that Dora Miller was far more reserved and quiet, Fred Miller laughed and responded, “Oh, no.  I’d much rather have taken a beating from dad than mom!”

Charlotte Flock was born in the small eastern Nebraska community of Loretto.   Her family also lived in Bartlett and Spaulding before moving to Chadron, where she met Fred Miller in 1941. 

Early in their courtship, Fred and Charlotte – like all Americans – were rocked by the news on December 7, 1941 that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The United States went to war.

Fred and Charlotte were married in Chadron on June 2, 1942.  Among other places, they lived in Chadron for a time, and Fred remembers working at the old Chadron Bakery that was then located on West Second Street.  Fred and Charlotte lived upstairs, where the rising heat from the bakery ovens kept their apartment toasty warm.  Fuel oil – like many other items – was hard to come by in those war years.

In April of 1943, as the United States continued its buildup of forces, Fred Miller – like hundreds of thousands of other young men – found himself entering service.  He was sworn in to the Army Air Corps at Fort Logan, just outside Denver, Colorado, on April 8, 1943. 

Just a few months later, on July 24, Fred and Charlotte’s first child, Jean, was born in Chadron.

In addition to Fort Logan, Fred was assigned to military installations at Kearns, Utah; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fresno and Glendale, California; Ephrata and Moses Lake, Washington; and March Field, California, where he was discharged on Armistice Day 1945. 

Returning to Dawes County at war’s end, Fred and his growing family lived in Chadron, and he took a job at the Chadron bakery until there was a “blowup.”     Fred decided to move to Washington, where Charlotte’s sister and family lived.  He would pick apples, which he did for about a month, and then a job opened up in Metaline Falls.  While daughter Jean was born in Nebraska, Fred and Charlotte's other children were all born in Washington.  Pete was born in Wenatchee in 1945; Wayne in Ione in 1948; and Charlie Bob in Ione in 1950.

While Fred held a variety of jobs over the years – including working in the apple orchards in the region – most of his working career was spent at the cement plant in Metaline Falls.  He began on May 5, 1949 and remained until there more than 36 years, retiring on June 29, 1985.


In retirement, Fred enjoyed camping and spending time with his kids and grandchildren, most of whom lived fairly close.  He enjoyed fairly good health right up until his death on December 29, 2005 following a heart attack.

Charlotte Miller continues to live in their home overlooking the beautiful Pend Oreille River in Metaline Falls, Washington, where she and Fred raised their family. 

Their children help Fred and Charlotte Miller celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2002.
L-R: Pete Miller, Charlie Miller, Jean (Miller) Roark, Fred & Charlotte, and Wayne Miller.

Daughter Jean married David Roark, and they live in Spokane, where they owned and operated a grocery store until their retirement several years ago.  Their children included Kevin, Kerry and Robert.  The store is still in the family, operated mainly by two of their sons.  David works 2 days a week and fills in when needed and Jean still keeps the books.

Son Pete married Judy Newman and they remained in Metaline Falls, where Pete also worked for the cement plant for many years.  When the plant closed, he took a job at the nearby power dam operated by the county.  Pete and Judy have two children, Paul and Rhonda.

Second son Wayne Miller enlisted in the Air Force, and his tour of duty took him to a variety of places, including an overseas assignment in Germany for 7 years.  He married Christina Schutte, and they have two children, Christopher and Charlotte.  After he retired from the military, Wayne and his family returned to the eastern Washington area, and he works for the U.S. Post Office in Colville, WA.

The youngest in Fred and Charlotte’s family is Charles Robert (Charlie Bob), who also worked at the cement plant in Metaline Falls for many years.  He married Linda Wallace, and they have two children, Chad Donald and Amie Lavone. Linda passed away in July of 2010.  Charlie lives in Ione.

Remembering John Miller...

John Miller at Whitney School
in the early 1930's.

John Miller was the fifth of eleven children born to Pete and Dora Miller, and the last one born while the family was still living in Chicago.  He came into this world on June 27, 1917.  When he was about a year old – sometime in 1918 – the family moved to Watertown, South Dakota.  After about four years, they moved to Scottsbluff County in Nebraska, near Pete’s older sister, Eva Behm, and her family.

It was in the “valley” area of the Nebraska panhandle that John began school, and he shows up on the attendance rolls at the Spring Creek School in Scotts Bluff County.  He probably attended school for three or four years – before Pete and Dora made their final move, which took them northward to the Whitney area of Dawes County.  John continued school for a few years and even was awarded a perfect attendance certificate by his 6^th Grade teacher, Eva Cunningham.  But within the next couple of years, John would drop out of school to help with family chores and work in farm fields around Whitney.

The Whitney years were the “growing up years” for John Miller.  In later life, he would recount a variety of incidents that reflected the active life of a Depression-era teenager.  From sneaking in to the Whitney movie theatre after hours to thread the projector and watch films – to tossing a goat into a local restaurant, there was no shortage of pranks.

Lettie Maiden and John Miller were
married in January of 1938.

Although there’s no certainty as to when they met, John Miller and Lettie Maiden probably got acquainted at one of the dances held on the Maiden place northeast of Chadron in the mid-1930’s.  John’s older sister, Marie, was married to Bill Derrick, a cousin to Lettie.  They shared a common grandmother, Dora Derrick Maiden, who lived on the Maiden homestead. 

Their subsequent courting led to a small marriage ceremony on January 13, 1938 in the Newland Baptist parsonage on Ann Street in Chadron.  Lettie’s sister, Nettie Maiden, attended the bride, while Art Gehrke was best man.  A newspaper account said that John was “well and favorably known in this vicinity.”  A wedding luncheon was served at the home of Lettie’s parents, Bill and Leota Maiden, before the couple set out for a short honeymoon in the Black Hills.

While Lettie was employed by Dr. C.E. Masters, a local optometrist, John took on a variety of jobs.  Farm hand, road construction, and filling station attendant were among many of his jobs.

“We picked up jobs doing whatever we could,” he said in later years, putting into context the rigors of trying to make a living during the difficult years during and following the Great Depression.

John and Lettie had three children:  John Elgar, born in October 1938; Linetha Faye, born in January 1941, and Larry Dean, born in June 1943.

By this time, John Miller was working for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad as a Machinist’s Helper.

When World War Two broke out, many area men were called to serve.  John Miller was on the list and scheduled to report for active service when the war ended in 1945.  Those orders were cancelled. 

With "Rusty" in 1960.

John continued his work at the C&NW roundhouse and eagerly took on correspondence courses and other training that would allow him to become a full-fledged machinist for the company.  He honed many skills while working for the railroad, including welding, and he also took on additional responsibility as a foreman.  He was an officer for the local chapter of the International Association of Machinists, an interesting role given his disdain for unions in later years.

Despite opportunities for further promotions – which would have required relocating to Rapid City – John chose to stay in Chadron, where his children had started school.  While there were brief forays into other opportunities – like part ownership of the 146 Café on Main Street in Chadron and doing contract work for the 1880 Train for tourists in the Black Hills – John remained with C&NW for more than 38 years, retiring in 1980.

Vacations were few and far between for this Miller family, but there was one trip to Yellowstone Park in about 1950.  Travel was not frequent for John and Lettie until all their kids were grown and gone – and until John retired from the railroad and Lettie from the U.S. Job Corp camp near Chadron, where she had worked for several years as a cook.

John Miller died on October 12, 1994 at the Chadron Community Hospital.  He had been in failing health the last few years of his life and was 77 years old at the time of his death.

Lettie Miller passed away just over three years later on January 28, 1998 in Chadron.  She was 77 years old.

The 50th wedding anniversary photo of John and Lettie Miller .
Taken in January 1988 - Chadron, Nebraska.  Behind Lettie and
John are their children:  John Elgar, Larry, and Linetha.

The children of John and Lettie Miller:   older son John and his wife Cheryl have lived in Lemon Grove, California, for many years;  their daughter Linetha and her husband Bruce are on a ranch outside Madill, Oklahoma; and younger son Larry and his wife Karen live in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Bertha Miller found a home in Texas

Bertha, Albert and Fred Miller

Bertha Miller was born April 12, 1921 in Watertown, South Dakota, but the family lived there only a short time before moving to western Nebraska.  By the time her parents Pete and Dora decided to move to Whitney in 1927, Bertha was school age and started school there.  As did many of the other Miller children, she dropped out of school at an early age.  Years later, she remembered working in Chadron at the old Niles Hotel, which used to sit on the east side of First and Bordeaux Streets.

Bertha moved to Texas in early June of 1941, traveling with “Bobbi” Derrick and her husband, as well as Grandpa and Grandma Derrick.   She said Bobbie had asked her jokeingly to come to Texas – and she did!  Bertha recalls that when they arrived on a Friday evening, it was pouring down rain.

“I wished to God that I had never left.”  But Bertha stayed, and fell in love with her adopted home state.

Louis and Bertha Bird

Among one of her earliest jobs in Texas was working for Dairy Land, a company that packed ice cream in those small cups which then were shipped out to military bases.  She often told the story about how she and her girlfriend would write their addresses on the lids of some of those cups that went out to soldiers and sailors around the world.

Eventually, Bertha took a job as a waitress in a downtown Houston restaurant.  While working the night shift, she got acquainted with a local cab driver, Louis Bird.  Their courtship resulted in marriage on May 20, 1947.

Louis and Bertha had one child, Judy, who was born on New Years Day 1949.  For many years, the Bird family lived out on the north edge of Houston, Hage Street.  Among other things, it allowed the family to have a large garden plot.  It was a hobby Bertha avidly pursued.

Louis Bird was a truck driver for most of his working years – driving routes only in Texas, so he could be near his family.  He retired from Brown Express; he died in 1974.

By the 1980s, Houston had grown so much that the Bird “rural” neighborhood was surrounded by housing developments and businesses.  It was clear that Houston was one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

Her daughter Judy remembers that Bertha loved to work in the garden, growing and canning vegetables – taking great pride in her Texas pecan pickles and jellies.  She also enjoyed planting and caring for a wide variety of flowers.

Bertha Bird died April 17, 1989 in Houston, just five days after her 68^th birthday.

Judy (Bird) Callaway holds her granddaughter, Aubree, flanked by daughter
Lori (left) and Chacy (right -- in red).  Chacy is Aubree's mommy.  The fellow
standing behind at left is Kerry Callaway, Chacy and Lori's father.  

Bertha's daughter married and had two daughters, Chacy Callaway – born in 1974 --  and Lori Callaway, who was born in 1976. 

For some 21 years, Judy worked at Chase Bank in Houston, while raising her girls as a single mother.   She took severance from Chase in January 2000, but  continues to live in the Houston area.

Judy's older daughter, Chacy, graduated from Sam Houston State University and teaches elementary school.  She and her husband, John, live in Magnolia.

Lori went to the University of Houston and briefly pursued a career in broadcasting in Idaho Falls, Idaho.  However, she soon returned to Houston and – like her older sister -- now teaches elementary school in the Houston area.

You'll find higher resolution versions of all the photographs shown here -- and many more --  in the Miller Family Gallery. 

Remembering Albert Miller...

Albert Miller, USMC

Albert Miller was born near Scottsbluff, Nebraska on October 25, 1925.  He was the youngest boy born to Peter and Dora Miller

Albert surely spent his most formative years growing up in and around Whitney, Nebraska.

While his older brother Fred served in the Army Air Force during World War Two, Albert signed up for a tour of duty with the U. S. Marines.  He joined on December 3^rd, 1943 and traveled to San Diego, California, where he completed boot camp and was then trained as a 90 mm anti-aircraft gunner crewman.  Shortly after training, he was shipped out to Hawaii and then on to Midway Island in the Pacific for the rest of his tour.   A couple of years later, on April 8, 1946, he was released from active duty at the Treasure Island Naval Station near San Francisco. 

He then went home to Nebraska.

Five months later, on September 14, 1946, he married Edca Kiron Shafer, who had been born in Albion, Nebraska.  When they married, Al was 20 – Edca was 19.  Interestingly, Edca’s mother, Mary Dussel Flock, was an older sister to Charlotte Flock, who married Albert’s brother Fred.  Thus, Edca’s aunt Charlotte was also her sister-in-law!

Albert & Edca Miller - 1980

Despite their roots in Nebraska, Albert and Edca moved to Washington state in 1948, landing in Malott, where they picked apples until the end of harvest. Then it was on to Metaline, where they lived in “sheep sheds.”  Albert worked at the old Diamond Match/National saw mill at Sulivan Creek and also at the Grandview Mines.

A short time later, moved to Metalline Falls and went to work in the Lehigh cement plant.  He later moved to nearby Ione, Washington.  It was there that Albert and Edca Miller would raise their family.  Their children were  Cecelia Lou, Betty Jo, Albert Michael and Mary Dot.  Cece and Betty Jo were born in Nebraska, while Mike and Mary were born in Washington.

When Lehigh workers went on strike in about 1954, Albert Miller bought the Carnation milk route that ran from Spokane to Metaline Falls.  It was a distributor-owned business that he operated for more than 32 years.

Sadly, Edca died on September 14, 1981, their 35^th wedding anniversary.  She was just 54 years old.   Al continued to work for a few more years, retiring with a disability at age 62.

In 1988, Al attended the 1988 version of the Miller family reunion at Wilson Park in Chadron. 

Albert Miller died in Spokane, Washington on June 25, 1997.  He was 71 years old.

This photo was taken in 1980 not long before Edca Miller passed away in September 1981.
In back (l-to-r):  Mary Dot, Albert, Edca, and Cece.  In front: Betty Jo and Mike.

Thanks to cousin Mike Miller for sharing photos and information with us.  Mike is retired as a communications electrician for Seattle City Light, working his last several years at the Boundary Dam project near the Canadian border north of Metaline Falls.  He lives in Ione.

About Albert and Edca’s children:  Cecelia lives in Ione, while Betty Jo Traphagen resides in Green Valley, Arizona.  The youngest in the family, Mary Dot Kilbourne, lives in Sequim, Washington. 


You'll find a variety of photographs in the Miller Family Gallery. 

Reunion less than two weeks away!

Some 54 Miller "cousins" from eight states are signed up for the Miller Reunion picnic in Chadron, Nebraska.  The grand event is just two weeks away (6/25/11) and will be held at Wilson Park in Chadron.

It's been a few decades since such a reunion has been held.  The last one was also at Wilson Park back in 1988.  We don't know for sure how many showed up for that event -- but we believe this will be a record. If you're planning to attend -- but haven't yet registered for the picnic -- please click on the box at right and sign up.  We need to give the picnic caterer a count of people by next Friday (6/17/11).  Be sure to include names of people in your group, since we want to make up name tags!

Whitney water tower

Sadly, all of the children of Peter and Dora Miller, our German-Russian grandparents who lived for so many years in Whitney, Nebraska, are now gone.  The old Miller house in Whitney is a mere shadow of its former self -- weeds have grown up around the single remaining portion of the structure, which is used as something of an office for a trucker.  Much of his equipment is strewn around the lot.

But if the condition of the house is a bit of a disappointment, there are plenty of other things to help stir memories of bygone years.  

Between the cemetery and "downtown" Whitney, the old water tower (shown above) casts its shadow over the most inhabited area of the little Dawes County village.  That's the neighborhood south of the old U.S. Highway 20.  While a newer water pipeline now serves Whitney residents, the tower remains as a vivid reminder of days gone by. 

The long-time home of Bill and Marie (Miller) Derrick still stands, too, appearing much the same as it did right after Dick Derrick fixed up the exterior of the structure several years ago. Next door, the house built by Dick and Kathy Derrick remains -- now occupied by a couple who work in Crawford.

"Old" Whitney School today

Across the street from the old Derrick homes are two school buildings.  One is dubbed the "old" school -- the other is the "new" school.  Nonetheless, both schools have been closed permanently.  Earlier this month, a  "Whitney School Reunion" was held in the newer building.  We've posted a few stories and photos about the school on a web site entitled Whitney Reflections.  Closure of the facility marks the end of 125 years of education in Whitney.  Nearly all of the Miller children went to school in the "old" school building.  The Chadron Public Schools, which now control the property, is trying to sell both building -- but we've heard no news about their fate.  We suspect the old building will be torn down.  The newer structure could serve as a nice community center or for some other purpose, but it's not clear that there's much support for that.  

Perhaps the least changed aspect of Whitney is Warring Memorial Church, on the corner south of the old school.  Although the entry has been relocated -- and it now has easier access for folks needing assistance -- the church is still a vibrant part of the community, conducting Sunday services and other events.  A few cousins attending the reunion plan to attend services on Sunday (6/26/11) -- but they'll have to rise early to do it.  The pastor also preaches in Harrison and Crawford, so the Whitney service is at 9:00 a.m. only.  Local folks have invited us to join them for coffee in the church basement after the service.  They'd like to know just how many of us might show up, so they'll be prepared!   Please drop us an e-mail  if you think you might join us.  Older cousins will remember that this is the church that Grandma Miller attended and cleaned for many years!

Undated photo of the Whitney Church

We're hoping for good weather so that a visit to the cemetery can be included.  Of course, the cemetery is open all the time, but a visit to the Whitney Cemetery after church on Sunday could be capped off with a nice lunch at the Fort Robinson State Park about 20 minutes away.  If you've not been to Fort Robinson lately -- or ever -- we think you'll find it's worth a visit!

While we've lingered on a bit here about houses, buildings, and "things," perhaps the most exciting part of our Miller Family Reunion is the most enduring:  a chance to get acquainted and reacquainted with cousins from all over the country.  Interestingly, not a single Miller descendant (at least, that we know of) lives in Nebraska -- let alone in the Whitney area!  Many third, fourth, and fifth generation descendants of Pete and Dora Miller have never met one another.  For others, it has been many years since we've met and enjoyed fellowship.

Those, of course, will be the most enduring remembrances of this celebration.  Just imagine how pleased Grandpa and Grandma Miller would be to know that so many of their family have been able to come together for this occasion -- a fitting tribute to them and their children.

We look forward to seeing you later this month!

Remembering Marie...eldest child of Pete & Dora Miller

Marie Sophie Miller was born just a week before Christmas 1909 in Longmont, Colorado, to Pete and Dora Miller.  Pete was 22 years old, and Dora was less than three weeks from her 18^th birthday.  For the Millers, it must’ve been a joyous occasion – the birth of their first child!

More problematic for Pete and Dora was the matter of making a living that could sustain the young couple and their new baby.  Certainly, there was the sugar beet industry in and around Longmont, a packing plant, and a variety of manual labor jobs.  Undoubtedly,  Pete Miller tried his hand at many of them.

Miller home at 4504 N.
Kasson Way in Chicago

However, it wasn’t long before the wanderlust that had drawn Pete and Dora to America began working on them.  Sometime in February of 1910, Pete and Dora moved the family to Chicago, leaving behind Dora's father, Conrad Eckerdt, and the stepmother with whom Dora never got along.   Marie was less than two months old when the family went to Chicago.  It was there that Marie started school, probably in the near northside ethnic neighborhood that was heavily populated with German-Russians.   Marie – some 60 years later – remembered that she and her half-brother Alex attended school in a “large school building with three floors and a basement,” not far from their house.

She also remembered some of the social life of the neighborhood.  Even their home on Kasson Way in Chicago was vivid in her memory, and she became very excited when shown a picture of the house, looking remarkably the same, more than six decades later.

“We had to play inside the fence…there was a store there on the corner.  And I had to go there every day to get grandma and grandpa’s German newspaper, and sometimes they’d give me a penny and I’d get a penny ice cream cone or a penny’s worth of candy!”

Dora Miller  is standing at left in back; Marie
is next to her with a bow in her hair.

“There’d sometimes be three, four, or five families; we’d go from our home to visit other people’s homes.  We’d get there and the men folks would play cards and the women folks would just visit.  Or dad would play the accordion – he played the accordion.  And then they’d get together and they’d dance.”

But the time in school at Chicago didn’t last, as Pete and Dora packed up their belongings and five children and migrated to Watertown, South Dakota, where the sugar beet company gave them jobs.  That was in about 1918 – near the end of World War I.  Marie was eight years old when they moved.  In a short three or four years, the family would move again – settling finally in the panhandle of Nebraska.

Marie was almost a teenager by the time the family arrived in the North Platte Valley, a  region inhabited by lots of other German Russians.  There is no evidence, however, that Marie graduated from school before the family moved to Whitney in 1927, when she was almost 18 years old – a time when most young persons would be finishing their schooling.

The Derrick family had found their way to Nebraska sometime around the beginning of the 20^th Century after living in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Bill Derrick was born in Chadron on 18 December 1902.  He was still in the region by the time the Millers arrived in 1927.

Bill’s grandfather, John C. Derrick, led a very colorful life.  Probably born in Delpht, Holland, he was married three times and raised nine children in places as diverse as Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.   The two children with his second wife were Ernest Walter – Bill Derrick’s father – and Dora Ellen, who married William H. Maiden.  This led to the interesting double relationship between Bill Derrick and Lettie Maiden.  They were not only cousins, but when Bill married Marie Miller and Lettie married John Miller, they also became brother/sister-in-laws.   In the process of collecting information about the Miller and Maiden families, we’ve collected many photographs and considerable information about the Derrick family, much it assembled by Joseph William Derrick, a half first cousin to Bill Derrick.

Bill Derrick’s father, Ernest Walter, was also married three times.  As fate would have it, his first bride was a maiden – Sara Jane, who was a first cousin once removed to William H. Maiden.  On June 13, 1900, Ernest Walter married Mary Eva (Mamie) O’Leary in Long Pine, Nebraska.  By the late 1920s, Joe and Mamie Derrick owned a café in Whitney.  It’s probably there that Marie Miller and Bill Derrick first became acquainted in about 1929.  In fact, Dick Derrick remembers his mother saying that she worked in the café for a while.

Dick Derrick with parents Bill and Marie.
Likely taken in about 1946 or 1947.

The Miller family had lived in Whitney about three years, when – on August 30, 1930 – Marie Miller and Bill Derrick were married in Whitney.  Not only did Bill and Marie “share” a number of relatives, they also shared a common birthday – December 18.

On May 31, 1931, their first child was born.  Richard Warren Derrick was born in Whitney, where he attended school until enrolling at Chadron Prep where he started high school.  However, before he graduated, he enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps and was shipped out for basic training.  It was only a few months later that the Marine Corps found out that he wasn’t old enough to serve in the Marines, and he was sent back home.

Shirley Ann Derrick

A second child was born to Bill and Marie Derrick on January 18, 1941.  Shirley Ann Derrick was the only daughter – and was about 10 years younger than her brother.  Tragedy struck on June 12, 1949 when Shirley and one of her neighborhood pals, Sandy Rankin, were swimming at Whitney Lake.  Both of the children drowned in one of the worst such incidences at the lake.  Shirley was just eight years old.

Dick remained in the Chadron area and went to work for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad at about the time his father was retiring.  He married Kathleen Higgins in 1954.  They raised three children:  Debra Dianne, born in 1955; Richard Walter, born in 1958; and Dora Dionne, born in 1971.

In July of 1968, Dick and Kathy Derrick  moved to Alaska where he went to work for the Alaskan Railroad.  It was the beginning of a lifelong change in the Derrick family.  Their ties to the 49^th state became stronger when Debra married Jack Marsh and they raised their family in Alaska. 

Bill and Marie Derrick - March 1979

Even Bill and Marie Derrick – not able to do a lot of traveling –  made the trek to Alaska twice to visit their son and his growing family.

After Kathy Derrick was diagnosed with multiple scleroris, she and Dick moved back to Nebraska in 1983.  They had lived in Alaska for some 15 years.  It was a God-send to Bill and Marie – then well into their 70s and less able to get around.  Son Dick would run them to Chadron or Crawford, as might be needed, for shopping or a doctor’s appointment.  Too, they were able to visit and provide some comfort to Kathy, as her condition continued to deteriorate. 

In December of 1991, when Bill was 88 and Marie 81 years old, they were interviewed by Omaha World-Herald reporter Gabriella Stern for a story she was writing about the problems of elderly citizens in rural areas of Nebraska.  The poignant article touched upon the plight of several representative senior citizens.  The Derricks told of the isolation that comes with being unable to get out of the house on their own – and how that lack of independence contributed to making them old.  The story and their picture was published on Sunday, February 24, 1991. 

Just over a year later, on April 2, 1992, Bill Derrick passed away in Chadron.  He was 89 years old.  Less than a year after that, on February 25, 1993, Marie Derrick died at the age of 83.

In December 2001, Kathleen Derrick passed away.

Nearly three years later, in July 2004,  Dick Derrick – son of Bill and Marie Derrick, and husband of Kathy Higgins Derrick – died at his home in Whitney.


You'll find more photos of the Marie Derrick family in our Miller Gallery.