| Sources |
- [S3155] Stillwater County News, George Miller; obituary; 21 January 2010; 18 September 2012.
Obituaries
George Miller
The “wagon master” has taken the reins and gone ahead.
Long-time Stillwater County resident George Miller passed away on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 at Beartooth Manor in Columbus with his wife, daughters and special caretaker at his side.
George was the sixth of eight children born to Joseph Butler Miller and Ellen Hamer Miller on Feb. 4, 1911 in Iantha, Mo.
George had a sense of adventure and left home as a teenager and worked in foundries, steel mills and factories in Illinois and Indiana, wherever he could find work, and headed west to Montana in the ‘20s. He met his future wife Dorothy Kober while working sugar beets in the Park City area and always said, “When I met her, I quit lookin’.” George and Dorothy were married in a traditional German wedding in Park City on March 18, 1933, with a party that lasted three days.
George worked for farmers in the Park City area for several years, then purchased a ranch on the Stillwater River in 1942, and had a sawmill in Trout Creek as well. The ranch was sold in 1947 and the family moved to Absarokee, he bought a Caterpillar and built roads for local ranchers and other jobs he could do with the Cat.
In 1950, he leased land in Picket Pin and worked a sawmill for the next seven years. In 1957 he went into power line construction and eventually formed his own company, Lines, Inc., and built rural electric line and substations in several of the western states. George always had a love of horses and as a young man he loved to tame the orneriest horses around. When he retired in 1977, he returned to the Absarokee home, bought a team of draft horses and spent the next 24 years working with his horses.
In 1982, George, with his friend Charlie Landfried, built a Conestoga wagon and the maiden voyage with the Conestoga was a solo trip on the back roads to the Culbertson centennial celebration, a trip of 400 miles. George and Dorothy also participated in the Wyoming Centennial Wagon Train; the Montana Centennial Wagon Train; the Great Montana Cattle Drive of ‘89; and every Reed Point Sheep Drive until 2004. George organized many wagon trains in the local area just for the fun of driving his horses.
George also built a “surrey with the fringe on top” which transported people in parades, wedding parties, and also a few to their last resting place. George and his friend Charlie were commissioned to build a horse-drawn trolley that was used in Billings for several years. The trolley went to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of Bill Clinton and George and Dorothy had the honor of riding on the trolley in the inaugural parade. The trolley then was transported to Disneyland and used several years, and is now in the Flathead Lake area being used for the enjoyment of those wishing a ride on a horse drawn trolley.
George also restored a sleigh and delighted in giving sleigh rides, especially to children. George loved to drive his team and wagon in parades and participated in many parades in Stillwater, Yellowstone and Carbon counties and rarely missed a 4th of July parade in Red Lodge. George made many friends all over Montana and Wyoming in his association with horse events.
George received many awards, trophies and ribbons over the years for his membership and participation in the Montana Draft Horse and Mule Association and was named “Teamster of the Year” in Montana for three consecutive years. In September 2005, George was very honored to be the first inductee into the Montana Draft Horse and Mule Association “Hall of Fame” in Deer Lodge.
In the ‘50s, while residing in Absarokee, George served on the Absarokee School Board for eight years; was instrumental in getting the water and sewer system in Absarokee; is a member of the Absarokee Lion’s Club; Odd Fellows; the Absarokee Senior Center; Immanuel Lutheran Church, the Montana Draft Horse and Mule Association and the Rimrock Harness Club. George was also on the committee that raised funds to start the Museum of the Beartooths in Columbus and was on the committee and volunteered many hours in saving and preserving the Cobblestone School in Absarokee.
George was a very generous man, inventive, honest and loyal, who loved his wife, his family, his friends and his horses. George was a very humble man and didn’t care for the spotlight, but had quite a sense of humor. When he retired he had a business card made that read:
George Miller
Too old to work, too mean to die
Just driving my horses
George will forever live in the hearts of his survivors, Dorothy, his wife of 76 years, daughter Doris and Harvey Madison of Absarokee; son Chuck and Jean Miller of Guernsey, Wyo.; daughter Georgette and Don Scheafer of Absarokee; daughter-in-law Susan Miller-Edman of Killdeer, N.D.; two special friends Don Couttes of Red Lodge, and Mel Askins of Fishtail; 13 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren, 11 great-great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
The “wagon master” has gone ahead and joined those who have preceded him in death, his parents; brothers Frank, Harrison, Fred and Glen; and sisters, Charlotte Mayfield, Alice Fast and Wuanita Metcalf; his son Ted Miller; daughter-in-law Molly Allington Miller; and great-granddaughter Ashleigh Rae McAuliffe.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Box 343, Absarokee, MT 59001; Riverstone Health Hospice-Stillwater, P.O. Box 703, Columbus, MT 59019, the Cobblestone Preservation Committee, Box 176, Absarokee, MT 59001; Museum of the Beartooths, Box 1, Columbus, MT 59019, or the charity of your choice.
The family wishes to thank Riverstone Hospice Team, Donna McClure, Sonja Windecker, and Sherry Houser; and the staff at Beartooth Manor for his care and support for the past several years.
Services were held at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Absarokee, with Pastor Robert Leaverton presiding on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 at 11 a.m. Lunch will be served at the church immediately following the burial at Rosebud Cemetery three miles south of Absarokee. Smith Funeral Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements.
- [S771] Descendants of John Gwinn McCuistion, fgs #51vi-350.
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1911 - 2010 (98 years)
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