Patricia (Denn) Miller

Pat was born in Ishpeming on September 30, 1938, the only child of Marjory and Albert P. Denn. She graduated from Ishpeming High School, Class of 1956 and went on to attend the University of Michigan to major in Music Education. At the beginning of her second year, she met a graduate student there, Edmund Miller. They decided to spend their lives together and married at St. John’s Catholic Church, Ishpeming on August 23, 1958.

By 1963, Pat was already raising two children, Kerry Ann (1959) and Mark Christopher (1963) having earned a BA degree in January 1963 at the University of Michigan while Ed finished there in 1965. During this time, Pat played flute and piccolo in the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor City Symphony Orchestras.

The family left Ann Arbor in 1968 for the San Francisco bay area in California where Ed had found employment and eventually settled at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. During their years in the bay area, Pat not only made a home for her family but also taught private music lessons for flute, clarinet and piano students and played flute and piccolo for 18 years in the Livermore-Amador Symphony orchestra.

The family added 3 dachshunds and Pat with her children had a brief stint showing dogs at shows in Northern California. Pat also became known for helping to name dogs from new litters. The three we owned were named Naughty Nicodemus, Der Grafen von Berwick and her favorite, Giovani von Kothouse.

As the children entered high school, Pat returned to college for two years to earn a certification in Dental Surgery Assisting. She worked for many years as a surgical assistant in several dental practices and for hospital surgeries in California and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she and Ed also lived several years.

Pat taught herself to sew, creating many Halloween costumes and some stuffed animals over the years. She also taught herself to cook and developed many signature culinary creations including such dishes as grasshopper pie, iced rum husks, chicken saltimbocca, scalloped potatoes, pasties, and bean and sausage soup.

With her family, she enjoyed camping throughout the western United States and Canada, sewing and continuing to hone her cooking skills much to her family’s enjoyment and appreciation. Prior to, and after Ed’s retirement they saw much of the world traveling by air and cruising, visiting 75 countries and all seven continents. One high point was also flying from London to New York on the Concorde.

Pat was a detailed oriented person, always planning and making lists and organizing the people and things in her life that needed her careful thought and attention. She was an active and respected participant in various committees of the Sun City Lincoln Hills Retirement Association where she lived the last 20 years of her life.

In her last few years, Pat suffered from several health challenges that limited her ability to travel or engage in many of the activities she loved. But, one thing she always made sure to do was have a cup of hot tea with some cookies in the afternoons.

Pat is survived by her husband; her two children; and a grandchild Veronica.

Graveside services will be held at the Negaunee Cemetery at 10:00 AM on Monday, September 18th, with Rev. Ryan Ford officiating.

Mrs. Miller’s memorial page may be viewed at koskeyfuneralhome.com.