Alan Randolph Miller

ALAN R. MILLER STAUNTON, VA Alan "Jim" Randolph Miller died October 3, 2011. He was born on February 11, 1918 in Woodstock, Virginia, a son of Fred Inguals Miller and Fredericka Hottel Miller. The family moved to Washington, DC where Alan attended school, graduating from Eastern high School, where he was a star athlete in football and track. He attended the University of Maryland, graduating in 1940 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He was a member of the track team, receiving national recognition in the 440 yard dash and medley relay. At the University of Maryland he participated in ROTC and received a commission as Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps upon graduation. He served in the Second World War as a Marine Corps officer on board the USS Enterprise, participating in the Battle of Midway and later, aboard the USS Nashville. Upon reaching the rank of Major, he was transferred to land duty and participated in the landings on Guam and Okinawa. At Okinawa he helped write the air defense plan. After the end of WW II he continued his education, receiving a Masters Degree in Statistics. He took a position as a statistician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the crop reporting service, where he worked for the rest of his career. Alan is survived by his wife and college sweetheart, Virginia Mercer, whom he married during the war on July 3, 1942, in San Francisco, California. They have two sons, Dr. James Alan Miller and his wife, Betty, in Savannah, Georgia and John Randolph Miller, an attorney and his wife, Margaret in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition he is survived by four grandchildren, John R. Miller, Jr., and wife Shari of Riverside, Connecticut, Joseph A. Miller, and his wife Lisa of Charlotte, North Carolina, Adrienne Uphoff and husband, Jeff of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Catherine C. Miller of Washington, DC. He is also survived by five great grandchildren, Lyla and Ella Miller, Maia and Tristan Uphoff, and Anna Elizabeth Miller. He is also survived by one sister, Shirley Weickardt of Charleston, South Carolina. Alan retired from the Department of Agriculture in 1973, and he and Virginia moved to Middlebrook, Virginia where they built a home on family land. They were both active members in the community and at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church. Alan was also a member of the Middlebrook Ruritan Club and served as its president. For many years he organized and oversaw the annual Middlebrook Horse Show. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by four sisters, Kathleen Estabrook, Pauline Hagen, Jane Wagner, Virginia Wightman. A private burial will be at New Providence Presbyterian Church in Raphine, Virginia. A memorial service will be held at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church in Middlebrook on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of the Shenandoah, P.O. Box 215, Fishersville, VA 22939, to the American Heart Society, 4504 Starkey Road, SW, Suite 115, Roanoke, VA 24018, or to Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, 334 Mt. Tabor Road, Staunton, VA 24401. Henry Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.