Daniel F. Miller was born on April 8, 1938, to Frank M. and Mary F. (Morrow) Miller at their home southwest of Bolckow, MO. The morning after an early spring snow storm, Frank fetched Doc Wilson in his car since he had snow chains, to deliver Dan. The second of their four children, Dan grew up a farm-boy with various beloved animals like his pet pig and Zoe the horse and three pesky (but also beloved) sisters.
During his teens, Dan worked for several neighbors as a farmhand, with particularly fond memories of working on John Lee’s short horn cattle farm. Dan enjoyed woodworking in Charlie Vest’s industrial arts class and basketball in high school as a Bolckow Bulldog. He graduated valedictorian in 1956 from a class of nine. Dan’s ambition in his Senior yearbook was to be a bachelor, but after serving 3 years in the U.S. Army at Ft. Leonard Wood, he married Karen K. Cox of Cawood, MO on January 16, 1965. Karen noticed Dan for the first time over the pie case at the Midway Truck Stop and, with a little help from both of their sisters, they dated. Dan and Karen moved to a cozy home in Bolckow in the summer of 1968, a few years after the birth of their daughter, Lenora. He was a devoted husband, father and son.
Working along-side his father Frank for many years, Dan was a self-employed carpenter in the Andrew County area for most of his life. He continued the carpentry business after his father retired, doing a wide-range of work from fencing, painting and roofing, to remodeling, building sheds, barns and houses, to electrical, plumbing and repair work for many people over the years. He also built cabinets, a skill he learned working at a carpentry shop in Mound City after he returned home from the Army.
As a young man, Dan enjoyed his cars. His first car was a 1949 Mercury he bought with the money he made working for John Lee, which he traded for a 1955 black Ford V8. The next two were Pontiacs: The 1957 that survived the June 1960 tornado which carried away the garage it was parked in and the sure-footed Pontiac he often talked about driving back from Ft. Leonard Wood with his friends one icy night. After he was out of the service, he purchased a 1959 Ford retractable hardtop.
Dan was an avid outdoorsman; bow and gun hunting, fishing and mushroom hunting in his spare time, or even just working outside in his yard in later years.
Daniel F. Miller died peacefully in his sleep on January 18, 2023, in the home where he lived happily with his wife Karen, until her death on May 22, 2014. He was also preceded in death by his parents and by several family members whom he also considered close friends, including his brother-in-law, Valdean Cox and two cousins, Dean and Donald Kennedy.
Dan is survived by his daughter Lenora Miller, and sisters Joyce Vaughn (Charles), Carol Stanton (Virgil) and Nancy Nelson (Ernest), his cousin and friend Ron Kennedy and numerous nieces and nephews. He was a hard-working, kind, good man and he will be missed by those who knew him.
The family will receive friends 5:00 - 7:00 PM, Thursday, January 26th at the Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel.
A private family inurnment will be held at the Bolckow Cemetery at a later date.
