| Notes |
- The Times-News (Twin Falls, ID)
April 23, 2000
Theodor Zorn Miller, cowboy, Marine officer, hay dealer and dairyman, died at his home in Jerome on April 19, 2000. Ted was born at Wisdom, in the Big Hole Valley of Montana in 1919, and spent his early years in a log cabin outside of town.
His mother, Gladys, died when he was not yet five-years-old. Admonished to "be a man and take care of your little sister," he was sent with her by train, unaccompanied, to Los Angeles, to live with their maternal aunt, Idella Zorn. There they spent most school years with her in L.A., and most summers with their paternal grandfather, Charles E. Miller, in Montana.
Many of Ted's fondest memories were of his experiences as a cowboy in the Big Hole, haying, breaking horses, hunting and riding herd on the cattle on over 30,000 acres of his grandfather's ranches. He graduated with honors from Manual Arts High School in L.A. After attending college at UCLA and the University of Montana, and working summers on road survey crews in eastern Montana,
Ted married his high school sweetheart, Felice Cain. With war imminent, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, and attended Colgate University and UC Davis while in the military. After OCS, Ted was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and later rose to Captain. He saw combat in the Pacific, and was among the first occupation troops to arrive in Nagasaki, Japan, only 10 days after it was struck by the second of two atomic bombs that ended WW II.
Since his grandfather's ranches in the Big Hole had been sold while he was overseas, Ted settled his family in Bellflower, Calif., after the war. Here he worked as a bookkeeper for - and then owned - companies which supplied alfalfa hay to the region's growing dairy industry, eventually running 18 of his own trucks. In spite of a grueling work schedule, Ted found time to take his family on frequent outings camping, surfing and sailing in the summer, and beach-combing and skiing in the winter. After moving his hay company to Chino, Calif., in the early 1970's, as population growth pushed the dairies farther out, Ted entered the dairy business himself in the mid-1970's.
By the early 1980's, he expanded his business activities by partnering with two of his daughters and their husbands in new dairies in Jerome. In the late 1980's, he retired from the hay business, sold his interests in his daughters' dairies to them, and moved his own dairy to Jerome, where he has since resided.
Known for his integrity, generosity and strong community spirit, Ted served on church and hospital governing boards during his California years. In Jerome, he is remembered for his support of the Tijuana Orphanage Project of St. Jerome's Catholic Church, and for annual college scholarships for Jerome High School graduates. Ted was also a mentor who provided both advice and financial backing to a number of budding dairymen and women. Ted was true gentleman; a man of wisdom, kindness and wit, who was a wonderful father, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend until the end of his days. His family is especially appreciative of the kind efforts of hospice caregivers, which enabled him to pass his last days at home amongst his family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Gladys Z. and Edward Miller; his aunt, Idella Z. Wilson; his sister, Shirley Thomas; and his wife, Felice C. Miller.
He is survived by his dearly beloved life partner of many years, Zippora Stahl; his four daughters, Karen Johnny Lopez, and Janey Greg Ledbetter, both of Jerome, Mary Goodman of Nevada City, Calif., and Barbara Jim Truitt, of Redway, Calif. Also surviving are his 11 grandchildren, Maggie Mihlfried, Carrie, Katie and Teddy Lopez, Nico and Francesca Cantone, and Will Ledbetter, all of Idaho, Zachary Stone, Malik Goodman, and Benjamin Goodman, all of California, and Ariadne Goodman of New York. Also surviving are six great-grandchildren, and Zippora's children and grandchildren.
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1919 - 2000 (80 years)
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