George H. Miller, 81, a former resident of 530 St. Paul St., Stevens Point, died Friday, July 30, 2010, at University Hospital in Madison. He and his wife recently moved to Madison to be near family.
A celebration of his life will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Stevens Point, with the Rev. George Thayilkuzhithottu, Msfs, officiating. Burial will be in Guardian Angel Cemetery in Stevens Point.
Visitation will be at Boston Funeral Home in Stevens Point from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and at the church from 10 a.m. Wednesday until the service.
Memorials are established in his name for St. Stanislaus Parish and the Portage County Public Library.
Condolences may be offered online at bostonfuneralhome.net.
Mr. Miller was born Aug. 27, 1928, in Deadwood, S.D., a son of the late George and Agnes (Johnson) Miller. He grew up in Spearfish, S.D., and went to schools there.
He attended Black Hills State College and graduated from the University of South Dakota with a journalism degree in 1951.
He entered the U.S. Air Force July 6, 1951, at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He was stationed at Moses Lake, Wash., Great Falls, Mont., and Milner Ridge, Manitoba, Canada, with a radar squadron. He received an honorable discharge in 1955.
He was married to Allene Richards on May 23, 1955, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
He worked a summer in Deadwood, S.D., and then moved to Madison and attended Journalism Graduate School. He worked at the Racine Journal Times until joining Sentry Insurance in 1961, working as communications manager until retirement in 1990. He was a past president of the Sentry Insurance Employee Club.
He was a member of St. Stanislaus Parish, was a lector, sang in the choir and was Mass server for funerals. He was active as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader in earlier years and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators. He was a member and past president of Toastmasters, a communion service leader at River Pines and volunteered with the driver escort program for elderly.
He served on the Portage County Library Board the past four years. He was a member of the Woodside Curling Rink that won the Wisconsin Seniors Championship and the U.S. Curling Association National Championship in 1985. He was a past president of the Stevens Point Curling Club.
Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Kim (Tom Thoresen) Miller, Fitchburg, Sylvia (John) Bauman, Delafield, and Marilyn (Rich) Larson, Madison; three sons, Randall, Salt Lake City, Utah, Kent, Minneapolis, Minn., and Greg, Scottsdale, Ariz.; one sister, Marilyn (Bob) Fluharty, Pequot Lakes, Minn.; and eight grandchildren.