Obituary for Juanita Miller

May 3, 1924 - August 6, 2012

Juanita Miller was born Juanita Marie Currie on May 3, 1924 in an east Texas logging town called Fastrill?Çönow considered to be one of Texas?ÇÖ original ghost towns. Her father, Melvin Currie, was a locomotive engineer with The Southern Pine Lumber Company, working for Temple Industries hauling lumber from the camp. His train, Engine #13, is now the centerpiece of the History Center in Diboll, Texas. Her ""Big Daddy,"" Melvin' family nickname, once allowed her, at just 5 years old, sound the train' powerful whistle for the morning crew and that was a thrill she remembered all her life. Juanita attended high school in Rusk where she excelled academically and was a baton twirler. Her parents, Melvin and Ruth Currie, spent the remainder of their lives in Diboll. Juanita' Texas roots ran deep.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech University, she moved to Houston to work as an executive secretary for the President of the Gulf Oil Corporation' Houston office. Juanita Currie became Juanita Miller when she married JP Miller, in the late 1940s. JP Miller aspired to become a writer and they moved to Queens, New York where she supported his dream by working as a secretary for the President of Gulf Oil' New York office. JP became a successful television writer authoring numerous live dramas including the unforgettable Days of Wine and Roses for Playhouse 90. In the blink of an eye, Juanita Miller, a red-headed country girl from an east Texas logging camp found herself living in upscale Manhasset, Long Island where she was thrust into the glitzy life of television and film producers, movie stars, fancy restaurants, cocktail parties and world travel. Famous people had little effect on Juanita but she once had dinner with Clark Gable and thought he was really something special.

The Manhasset years were filled with school plays, PBC football, Cub Scout meetings and occasional summer days at Jones Beach. Following their divorce in 1964 Juanita continued raising their three boys and, after meeting Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr., a 1980 inductee into the Good Shepherd Handicapped Hall of Fame and founder of the Human Resources Center on Long Island, N.Y., volunteered to work with handicapped children at the famous center. She later enrolled at CW Post College where she graduated with Honors earning a Masters Degree in English Literature. Soon thereafter she found a job as a high school English teacher at Great Neck South Senior High.

In 1978, Juanita decided to move back to Texas to be closer to her mother Ruth Currie, still living in Diboll at the time, and sisters Janice (of Houston) and Lorraine (of Livingston). She purchased a small lot on the imaginary shoreline of what would later become Lake Livingston and hired her sister Lorraine' husband to build her a modest house.

She immediately embraced the local community of Livingston, joining the local golf club and eventually landing a job as an English teacher at Livingston High School. She taught at Livingston for 17 years and was active in the Ladies Art League, local politics and community events. She loved fishing, attending local football games and playing a good game of bridge with her many friends. Music of almost any kind made her smile, especially if it was Willie Nelson, and until a few months ago she could Jitterbug or do the Lindy Hop like it was 1941. She loved teaching young people and providing them with the tools to succeed in life. Some of her former students are now prominent business and civic leaders in the Livingston area. She also loved books, writing poetry and believed in the power of education. She enjoyed wildlife and nature, sunsets on the lake, flowers and wild birds, and was eternally mystified by modern technology. She loved America and had a deep abiding respect for our Constitution and the many freedoms that we enjoy. She loved her community and always enjoyed a good conversation with her friends, neighbors and colleagues. She baked wonderful cookies, loved fried shrimp and gulf oysters, and often enjoyed a second piece of pecan pie. She sometimes described herself as a chocoholic. Juanita cherished her family and many friends but always held a special place in her heart for her beloved cats. She even had an embroidered pillow on her couch proclaiming, ""This house is ruled by the cat"" and it was.

Juanita enjoyed little road trips with friends to various Texas destinations expressing a particular fondness for New Braunfels, a quaint enclave founded in 1845 by a group of German settlers and located deep in the heart of the Texas Hill country. In the early 1990s she retired from teaching full time although she continued substitute teaching until 1997 when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. After successful surgery and subsequent chemotherapy she recovered and remained cancer-free for the remainder of her life.

Juanita joined the angels peacefully at the age of 88 at the Pine Ridge Health Care facility in Livingston after a long and valiant struggle with Alzheimer' disease. She is survived by her sister Janice Vaughn of Houston, and sons Montgomery, Jack and Jace, all currently residing in California.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 1pm on Saturday, August 25 at the Cochran Funeral Home Chapel in Livingston.

Cochran Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Please sign our online register at www.cochranfh.com