Remembering Pauline (Miller) Pollock Murray

Pauline (Miller) Pollock Murray
Age 16

It’s been nearly four years since we lost aunt Pauline Pollock Murray.  She died June 8, 2007 at Port Arthur, Texas.  She had lived in nearby Vidor, Texas, most of her life and reportedly never overcame an ear infection and a subsequent case of pneumonia when she died at age 79.

Pauline Louise Miller was the tenth of eleven children born to German-Russian immigrants Peter and Dora Miller, who had moved to Whitney, Nebraska in 1927 from the Scottsbluff area.  Pauline was born on October 19^th of that year, and she was the first of only two Miller children born in Whitney.  Younger sister Evelyn was born about three years later. 

As is true for most of the Miller family, little information remains about their years in the small Dawes County community of Whitney.  Pete and Dora Miller moved several times after they met and married in Longmont, Colorado in 1909.  Their residences included Chicago, Illinois; Watertown, South Dakota; Bayard, Nebraska; Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and perhaps another place or two in the North Platte River valley region around Scottsbluff.  They were among several German-Russian families from "the valley" to move to the Whitney area after creation of Whitney Dam and the irrigation district that brought new opportunities to the region.

The old Whitney School was built in 1922

Pauline was 12 years old when she participated in a Whitney Grade School operetta entitled “The Golden Whistle,” in which she portrayed the Fairy Queen.  It was performed in the Whitney School on March 15, 1940. Interestingly, the building in which that operetta took place still stands – but its future appears bleak.  The adjacent newer Whitney School will close permanently at the end of this school year, marking the first time in 125 years that there's been no school in Whitney.  The Chadron Board of Education, which now governs all public schools in the county, intends to sell off the property. Rumors have abounded for years that the “old” Whitney School – shown here – would be torn down.  That prospect now appears imminent. 

Bertha and Pauline
Undated

By the way, you'll find a picture of Pauline as the Fairy Queen, along with several other photos of Pauline and other Miller family ancestors/descendants, in the Miller Family Gallery.  

As she approached her teen years, Pauline wanted to go to Texas, where her older sister Bertha had gone some years earlier.  One family story says that Pauline's mother was reluctant and unwilling to allow her young daughter to make the trek, but that older sister Bertha suggested to Pauline that she simply cry while asking Grandma Miller for permission to go.  It apparently worked!   

After making the move to Texas, Pauline met and then, in 1948, married Olen Pollock.  They would have four children – Paulette, Mike, Sharon, and Linda.  All of the children and their families have remained in Texas.

Of all the children of Pete and Dora Miller, we doubt that any were any more a person of faith than Pauline.  As with most families, the Pollocks certainly had challenging, rewarding, sorrowful and joyful times.    It was revealing to me that after her divorce from Olen, they both found a civility with one another that served the family well.  

But good fortune smiled upon Pauline and she married again – to Mitchell Murray, who had grown up in Louisiana.  Like Pauline, he also had four grown children.  Mitch and Pauline wed in February 1971 at Vidor and made there home there for many years.   

After Mitch passed away in 1997,  Pauline remained in their home for a while, but eventually moved to a nice retirement complex on the edge of Vidor.

This photograph of Pauline and her children was taken in May 2000.
Standing left to right are Linda, Mike, Sharon, and Paulette.

Shortly after aunt Pauline passed away in 2007, we wrote the following:

“I believe it was her strength of character and Christian faith that kept the family close. She told me after Mitch died, that she found great solace and joy in having her children near and so supportive of her and -- just as importantly -- one another. They have helped each other through good times and bad, and they were there for their mother as she ended her stay on earth.”

Grandma Miller was surely looking down and saying, "Well done, my loving daughter."  

Remembering Jan Miller...

One of the faces missing from the Miller Reunion this summer will be cousin Jan Miller, who died seven years ago this month.

At this writing, we don’t know if any of Jan’s family will be attending our June reunion, but we hope they might be able to join us.  In any event, we thought it would be good to revisit a few memories and photos of this outstanding cousin. While other older family members likely have more vivid memories of Jan, let me offer a few observations.  

If ever there was a good example of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps,” we think Jan would be near the top of the list.

Friends and sisters-in-law
Fannie Miller & Lettie Miller

Jan was the only child of Fannie Miller, whose own life was cut short as the result of an automobile accident on U.S. Highway 20 just outside of Crawford, Nebraska, in September of 1937.  The injuries left her paralyzed and unable to care for her infant son, who would be raised in  Whitney, Nebraska, by his grandparents, Pete and Dora Miller

Fannie was hospitalized in Crawford – and later at Hot Springs, South Dakota.  There are few photos of Fannie Miller, but the ones we've found show a smiling young lady who was remembered by many as a very personable and outgoing person.  While she responded some to treatments over the 18 months after the accident, she would not survive.  She died at the Crawford Hospital in March of 1939, just a few weeks shy of her 20^th birthday.

A young Jan Miller

Jan grew up in Whitney under the watchful eye and loving care of Dora and Pete, whom he would call “Mom and Dad.” 

By all accounts, Jan was a good student – and a rather popular one. He attended school in Whitney, but ended up completing his education at Chadron Prep.

But by the early 1950’s, Jan was ready to get out and experience the world.  And that he did!

He enlisted in the Army and was off to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he would attend jump school and become a paratrooper.

"Mom Miller" and Jan Miller
probably taken about 1957-58

Alas, we know little about his military assignments, but we recall that he once said he had been stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Likely, that’s part of the reason he ended up living in Kentucky.

On May 19, 1956, he married Janette Haney, and they soon began their family.  Except for short times spent in Indiana and Pennsylvania, the state of Kentucky would be home for the Millers.

Both daughter Jan Rose and son Jerry Don were born in Hammond, Indiana – Jan Rose in 1957 and Jerry Don in 1960.   Younger daughter Joni Renee was born in 1964 in Princeton, Kentucky.

By the mid-1960’s, Jan and Janette Miller and their family were firmly ensconced in Eddyville, the county seat of Lyon County, Kentucky.

We recall visiting Jan and family in 1964 when we were traveling through on our way to a Navy base in Florida.  At that time, the Millers were living in a rental house on the edge of town, while their new home was being built.  Our visit was short – but very enjoyable.

It still brings a chuckle when I recall later telling a southern friend that I had visited a cousin in Eddyville, Kentucky.  This friend apparently knew that Eddyville was a well-known location across the region.  He grinned and asked what my cousin was “in for.”  It seems that Eddyville was – and is – home to the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

Jan shared stories with us about working in the mills around the region, but it wasn’t too much later that he changed careers and became an insurance man.  By all accounts a successful one.

Cute Hillary Chambers and
her grandpa, Jan Miller

Some 30 years later, in the 1990’s, we were on a business trip not far from Eddyville, so we rented a car and went to visit Jan and Janette, this time in that new home they had built in the 1960’s.  It was a delightful visit, and this time we were able to see their kids and some of their grandchildren, too.  We've added just a few photos from that visit in our Miller Gallery. It was clear to us that Jan’s life was built around his family.  It was a great visit.

Jan and Janette came back to Nebraska for the last Miller Reunion in 1988, a special treat for so many cousins, aunts, and uncles who’d not seen him for many years.  Many of them had never met Janette.    

Jan quit smoking in the mid-1990’s, but a variety of health issues began to plague him.  A trip to the doctor for sinus problems in 1999 resulted in the detection of a large tumor that could be removed only by a delicate surgery.  It was an unbelievably large 22-pound malignant tumor.  Unfortunately, it was not Jan's only bout with internal tumors.  Some time later, another tumor – about the size of a football – was removed.

Jan and Janette Miller

We visited with Jan by telephone a few times during this difficult period.  It was clear that his strength was sapped, but his spirits seemed high. 

At one point when his health issues had subsided a bit, Jan was well enough to travel back to Nebraska for a school reunion at the Chadron Prep School.  As we have occasion to visit Nebraska, we still have folks from around the Whitney area ask about Jan..

Despite a valiant fight, Jan Miller succumbed to his many health issues and died on April 22, 2004.  It was his mother’s birthday.