Age: 96
MILLER, Helen L.
Kalamazoo
Helen L. Miller, age 96, passed away Wednesday morning, February 18, 2015 at Bronson Commons Nursing and Rehab Center in Mattawan. Helen was born in Leslie Michigan to the late Rev. Henry and Mildred (Gibbs) Liddicoat on July 24, 1918. She had two brothers, Stephen and Dr. Paul Liddicoat and one sister, Beulah Wisner all who preceded her in death. The family lived at five different communities in Lower Michigan before her marriage in November of 1939 to Harry B. Miller of Kalamazoo. She is survived by her four children, James (Suzanne) Miller of Paw Paw, Patricia Ann Miller of Hayward, CA, David J. Miller of San Francisco, CA and Paul (Joyce) Miller of Annandale, VA; 4 grandchildren; Adam (Krystine) Miller of Canton, MI, Victoria (Jhonatan) Sepulveda of Sherwood, WI, Carolyn (Douglas) Ericson of Arlington, VA and Richard (Veronica) Miller of Tempe, AZ; 4 great grandchildren, soon to be six; several nieces and nephews. Helen graduated from Kalamazoo Central in 1936 and Western Michigan in 1940. Her father was minister at Stockbridge Avenue Methodist Church in Kalamazoo at the time. She has been a member at Stockbridge ever since. Helen has been a devoted mother beginning in December of 1940. She encouraged her children to take music lessons in everything from the piano to the oboe. All of her children graduated from college. She was a good cook, and each summer would can peaches, tomatoes, string beans, and anything else that was bargain-priced at the time. In the early 1950's she began teaching early elementary classes in the Kalamazoo Public School District, first at the Hillcrest and later at the South Westnedge schools. She earned an advanced degree from Western in the 1950's. While she was teaching at South Westnedge, she had her third grade class with their parents, show up at the Kalamazoo City Commission meeting. With Gazette publicity as an additional asset, they asked to have a pedestrian overcrossing placed across that busy street, South Westnedge Avenue. That overcrossing is still there today! Helen was a gregarious person, who easily struck up conversations with everybody she met. After retirement from teaching in 1980, she sold World Book Encyclopedias. She would set up a booth at the county fair and later call on the leads which she had obtained. With her husband Harry, she traveled to Micronesia, Europe, Australia and all across the United States and Canada. She was a good driver, and would spell Harry on particularly grueling road trips, particularly in the late afternoons. She really enjoyed getting out. Teaching seemed to be her calling, as she seemed to teach everybody, from neighborhood children to the residents in the nursing home where she spent the last years of her life. Even on vacation, she taught tourists on the train ride in the iron ore mine about stalactites and stalagmites. Her father was a minister, and her mother was an accomplished musician who usually took the role of choir director in his church. Helen had a fine alto voice, and together with Harry, her older brother, and his wife, sang many four-part anthems in the church services at Stockbridge. She led the Stockbridge choir as director for 10 or more years beginning in the 1950's. While she was director, she organized the combined choirs of Lane Boulevard and Stockbridge to sing Felix Mendelsohn's Elijah oratorio. This performance came off without a hitch! Cremation has taken place. Family will receive friends Saturday, May 9th, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Stockbridge Avenue United Methodist Church, Kalamazoo followed by a memorial service at 2 p.m. with Rev. Bob Lynch officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to the Paw Paw District Library. Arrangements by the Adams Funeral Home, Paw Paw.