Harold Miller's Obituary
Clifford "Harold" Miller, 97, of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed from this life on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, in a Tulsa hospital with family by his side. He was born March 26, 1923, in Drumright, Oklahoma to Cecil Roy Miller and Alice Beatrice Beach Miller.
Harold graduated from high school in May 1940 in Fox, Oklahoma and was admitted to the University of Oklahoma in 1941 where he began working on his degree in Civil Engineering. However, given the need for resources, he was encouraged to enlist in the U.S. Army. Having had previous experience in air frame manufacturing, he was inducted on February 4, 1943, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and immediately attended Glider Tech School in Wichita Falls, Texas.
During WWII, Harold was commissioned as a glider mechanic with the U.S. Army Air Corp 51st Troop Carrier Squadron, where he battled and campaigned in Southern France GO 33 WD 45; Rome-Arno North Apennines PO Valley GO 40 WD 45; and Air Combat Balkans GO 81 WD 45. He received an honorable discharge on November 29, 1945 at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. He always got a kick out of telling his family how he, and his war-time brothers, would sell imitation cartons of cigarettes to the Italian regime.
Upon returning home from Europe he was admitted again to OU. It was during these days where he developed a great love of all things crimson and cream, Bud Wilkinson, and malt scotch whiskey. He often recalled sending his dirty laundry to his mother back home and upon its return, he would find she had baked him a homemade cherry pie packed safely in a 35mm movie tin container. This made Harold very popular among his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers, and was soon elected as chapter president. While working as an intern, he met Margaret Marie Davis in 1949 after earning his BS in Civil Engineering, Harold and Marie married on September 2, 1950, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
On the day of their wedding, Harold and Marie packed their two suitcases and minimal belongings and moved to New Haven, Connecticut where Harold began his studies at Yale. Marie and Harold enjoyed hosting colleagues, and upon earning his Master's in Traffic Engineering, they moved to Amarillo, Texas to begin his engineering career. After just a few years with the City of Amarillo, Harold accepted a position as a traffic engineer with the City of Tulsa. The move to Tulsa in 1957 for Harold, Marie, Chris and Lezlie brought them to a small rental property west of Yale Ave, as the built their home on 27th Street where they raised Chris, Lezlie and then Pat. Marie stayed home with the children while Harold's achievements in his career spanned twenty-nine years with the City. He retired in 1986 after serving as Tulsa's City Engineer. Before his death, Harold proudly boasted that he had been able to "draw my pension for thirty-four years - six years longer I than worked." Up until his last few months, Harold still enjoyed getting in his car to drive the streets of Tulsa to check on the various improvement, timing of signals, observing traffic patterns and critiquing expansion projects.
Harold and Marie spent the first fifteen years of their retirement traveling extensively across the USA by RV, visiting all forty-nine continental states and developing many friendships while snow-birding in Casa Grande, Arizona. Harold was an avid golfer, loved a good poker game, and the monthly luncheons with his larger than life buddies from his years with the City of Tulsa. Since 1972, he enjoyed spending his free time at their cabin on Grand Lake where typically he held a fishing pole in one hand and a scotch in the other. The cabin is where you would find him in the winters sitting by his hand-crafted rock fireplace enjoying the warmth and glow of a rip-roaring fire. In the spring months he took joy in watching the Dogwood trees bloom. Summers were always deemed family time with the "Grand girls" and where he took a particular keen interest in watching them closely to validate who caught the largest Carp, usually followed by a great steak and potato. During the months of fall, you would find him watching his beloved OU football and always wanting a victory cigar out on the deck. It didn't matter if they actually won the game or not, it was always a "victory". Boomer, Papa! Sooner, Baby! We will sure miss hearing you say, "Kiss the ring!"
Fondly known as "Papa" and "Ree" to his family, together, Harold and Marie shared 64 wonderful years before Marie's passing in 2014. Harold enjoyed his final years as an active resident of Town Village Independent Living, where he held dear and special friendships with those who helped him find solace when needed, the courage to attempt new adventures and the extension of his life.
Harold is survived by his three children, Chris Miller (Cindy) and Lezlie Colwell (David) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Pat Miller (Kelley) of Derby, Kansas; eight granddaughters, Brittany Taylor and Lauren Spencer (Ryan) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Lisa Irvin (Charles) of Durham, North Carolina, Christine Miller of Studio City, California, Alex Armstrong (Blake) of Bentonville, Arkansas, Catherine Miller of Lander, Wyoming, Kari Colwell of Dallas, Texas and Tori Miller of Derby, Kansas; seven great-grandchildren, Hallie Spencer, Evie Spencer, David Irvin, Waylon Taylor, Abigail Irvin, Easton Spencer and Bennett Irvin; one sister, Bettye Hauser (Vic) of San Antonio, Texas; sister-in-law, Nola Miller of El Cajon, California; and many extended family and life-long friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Cecil Roy Miller and Alice Beatrice Beach Miller; his wife, Marie Miller; and his brother, Deb Miller.
Visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, at Floral Haven Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2020, at Floral Haven's Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor James Lacey officiating. Burial will be in Floral Haven Memorial Gardens.
***Services will be live-streamed starting at 12:15 p.m. on 10/1/2020. To view the service live, please click on the following link: http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/37560.
If you plan to attend the service in person, masks are required.
The family requests in lieu of flowers, interested persons make a donation to “The University of Oklahoma Foundation”, specifically the fund “OU-Tulsa Engineering Endowed Scholarship”, in memory of Clifford Harold Miller, Class of ‘49 (https://giving.oufoundation.org/OnlineGivingWeb)
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