William “Bill” Miller once opened your unlocked kitchen door and placed milk bottles and butter directly into the fridge. Those days are gone forever, but they spoke to the down-home, familiar trust that once existed in Lemon Grove and other small towns.
They also spoke to the existence of local institutions like Miller Dairy (1926 - 1985), for nearly six decades the beating heart of Lemon Grove on Skyline Drive with its 400 cows, retail store, corrals, hay bales and fragrant manure.
Bill Miller, WW II veteran, lifelong Musicians’ Union member, Knights of Columbus and VFW member, and beloved dairyman in East County, died at 93 on Jan. 8, 2015 in the presence of family members.
His death closes a chapter in Lemon Grove’s history that still resonates with thousands of local residents. Who, in this historic city, doesn’t have a Miller Dairy bottle? Who doesn’t remember the fun and convenience of having a working dairy smack in the middle of town?
Who hasn’t visited the Parsonage Museum of Lemon Grove to ooh and ah at that big, original Miller Dairy sign, tall milk cans and bottles in their wood-and-wire carriers?
Those bottles are now handed down in families as cherished memorabilia, a thought that probably didn’t occur to Bill’s dad, Earnest Charles Miller, who started the dairy in 1926 on 16 acres with one cow and a lemon orchard.
In 1893 Miller had arrived in town as a shoemaker, but got work at a nursery on North Avenue in Lemon Grove. There is a story told by Tony Sonka of Sonka Bros’ General Store fame that a nursery worker went berserk one morning and nearly killed Miller with an ax.
That sparked a desire for his own spread. On June 14, 1893 Miller bought 10 acres for $950 on Broadway between Buena Vista and Massachusetts Avenues.
That led to homebuilding on Kempf Street and more land purchases until he landed the biggest spread of all, the one that supported generations of Millers to come. Miller had a wife and three boys, Herbert, Edward and William for whom he built a home at 7953 Mt. Vernon Street.
Bill “grew up dairy” and held many jobs in the company, from milker, cow wrangler, calf birther and equipment repairman, to feed handler and milk truck driver.
Sporting a snappy white shirt and pants, he drove the gleaming white DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) all over East County. He was there at the end when the company ran out of Millers to run it -- oh, there were plenty of children and grandchildren, but their future lay elsewhere in education, medicine, law and business. In 1985 the cows went to Chino and the last bull to Mexico.
Lemon Grove residents erupted in outrage when they learned their beloved dairy would become the Miller Ranch subdivision on both sides of Skyline Drive.
Emotional public hearings drew accusations of civic mishandling -- “They’re destroying our soul!” said one resident (reported in the Lemon Grove Review). But the city was simply evolving and it was incumbent on the city council to ensure an attractive new neighborhood. They succeeded and today Miller Ranch is full of families, gardens, tidy streets, even little koi ponds. And Miller Dairy milk bottles.
“Miller Dairy” has remained a phrase in the local lingo.
Bill was born on Christmas Eve, 1921. He attended Sacred Heart Elementary School, where his musical gifts became evident. As a 10-year-old drummer, he performed in the 1934 Rose Parade. He graduated in 1940 from Grossmont High School, where his passion for music took off and he became a well-known band drummer in the county.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Bill was listening to the radio while milking a cow in the dairy stable. Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the death toll was staggering. Suddenly, Bill’s generation was at war. At 18-going-on-19, like millions of other young men, he joined the war effort, working as a radio operator on a C47 in the Army Air Corp for the duration of the war, 1942 - 1945. But Bill’s music career continued with the Officers Club Jazz Band and the Bonham Brothers Band.
Bill met the love of his life, Audrey Wahl, in 1943 on the Admiral Kidd Paddlewheeler in Saint Louis on the Mississippi River. She became a war bride on July 4, 1944.
Safely back home at the war’s end they lived in the Miller Dairy milk house before moving to their own home in Lemon Grove, where they raised a family.
Audrey’s needlework, cooking and painting skills were complemented by Bill’s music, sparkling sense of humor and their shared love of family.
Bill knew tragedy. He lost Audrey in 2007 after 63 years of marriage and lost his son, Ray, and his grandson, Jeremy.
He is survived by his son Chris Miller (Sandie), daughters Joyce Benjamin (Mike) and Claudia Motal (Rob), seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 14 at Conrad Mortuary and at a Mass at Santa Sophia Catholic Church on Jan. 15. He was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery.
The family is grateful to Sharp Hospice for their loving care of the family patriarch in his final months. Donations in Bill’s memory can be sent to Sharp Hospice Care.
They also spoke to the existence of local institutions like Miller Dairy (1926 - 1985), for nearly six decades the beating heart of Lemon Grove on Skyline Drive with its 400 cows, retail store, corrals, hay bales and fragrant manure.
Bill Miller, WW II veteran, lifelong Musicians’ Union member, Knights of Columbus and VFW member, and beloved dairyman in East County, died at 93 on Jan. 8, 2015 in the presence of family members.
His death closes a chapter in Lemon Grove’s history that still resonates with thousands of local residents. Who, in this historic city, doesn’t have a Miller Dairy bottle? Who doesn’t remember the fun and convenience of having a working dairy smack in the middle of town?
Who hasn’t visited the Parsonage Museum of Lemon Grove to ooh and ah at that big, original Miller Dairy sign, tall milk cans and bottles in their wood-and-wire carriers?
Those bottles are now handed down in families as cherished memorabilia, a thought that probably didn’t occur to Bill’s dad, Earnest Charles Miller, who started the dairy in 1926 on 16 acres with one cow and a lemon orchard.
In 1893 Miller had arrived in town as a shoemaker, but got work at a nursery on North Avenue in Lemon Grove. There is a story told by Tony Sonka of Sonka Bros’ General Store fame that a nursery worker went berserk one morning and nearly killed Miller with an ax.
That sparked a desire for his own spread. On June 14, 1893 Miller bought 10 acres for $950 on Broadway between Buena Vista and Massachusetts Avenues.
That led to homebuilding on Kempf Street and more land purchases until he landed the biggest spread of all, the one that supported generations of Millers to come. Miller had a wife and three boys, Herbert, Edward and William for whom he built a home at 7953 Mt. Vernon Street.
Bill “grew up dairy” and held many jobs in the company, from milker, cow wrangler, calf birther and equipment repairman, to feed handler and milk truck driver.
Sporting a snappy white shirt and pants, he drove the gleaming white DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) all over East County. He was there at the end when the company ran out of Millers to run it -- oh, there were plenty of children and grandchildren, but their future lay elsewhere in education, medicine, law and business. In 1985 the cows went to Chino and the last bull to Mexico.
Lemon Grove residents erupted in outrage when they learned their beloved dairy would become the Miller Ranch subdivision on both sides of Skyline Drive.
Emotional public hearings drew accusations of civic mishandling -- “They’re destroying our soul!” said one resident (reported in the Lemon Grove Review). But the city was simply evolving and it was incumbent on the city council to ensure an attractive new neighborhood. They succeeded and today Miller Ranch is full of families, gardens, tidy streets, even little koi ponds. And Miller Dairy milk bottles.
“Miller Dairy” has remained a phrase in the local lingo.
Bill was born on Christmas Eve, 1921. He attended Sacred Heart Elementary School, where his musical gifts became evident. As a 10-year-old drummer, he performed in the 1934 Rose Parade. He graduated in 1940 from Grossmont High School, where his passion for music took off and he became a well-known band drummer in the county.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Bill was listening to the radio while milking a cow in the dairy stable. Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the death toll was staggering. Suddenly, Bill’s generation was at war. At 18-going-on-19, like millions of other young men, he joined the war effort, working as a radio operator on a C47 in the Army Air Corp for the duration of the war, 1942 - 1945. But Bill’s music career continued with the Officers Club Jazz Band and the Bonham Brothers Band.
Bill met the love of his life, Audrey Wahl, in 1943 on the Admiral Kidd Paddlewheeler in Saint Louis on the Mississippi River. She became a war bride on July 4, 1944.
Safely back home at the war’s end they lived in the Miller Dairy milk house before moving to their own home in Lemon Grove, where they raised a family.
Audrey’s needlework, cooking and painting skills were complemented by Bill’s music, sparkling sense of humor and their shared love of family.
Bill knew tragedy. He lost Audrey in 2007 after 63 years of marriage and lost his son, Ray, and his grandson, Jeremy.
He is survived by his son Chris Miller (Sandie), daughters Joyce Benjamin (Mike) and Claudia Motal (Rob), seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 14 at Conrad Mortuary and at a Mass at Santa Sophia Catholic Church on Jan. 15. He was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery.
The family is grateful to Sharp Hospice for their loving care of the family patriarch in his final months. Donations in Bill’s memory can be sent to Sharp Hospice Care.
William “Bill” Miller once opened your unlocked kitchen door and placed milk bottles and butter directly into the fridge. Those days are gone forever, but they spoke to the down-home, familiar trust that once existed in Lemon Grove and other small towns.
They also spoke to the existence of local institutions like Miller Dairy (1926 - 1985), for nearly six decades the beating heart of Lemon Grove on Skyline Drive with its 400 cows, retail store, corrals, hay bales and fragrant manure.
Bill Miller, WW II veteran, lifelong Musicians’ Union member, Knights of Columbus and VFW member, and beloved dairyman in East County, died at 93 on Jan. 8, 2015 in the presence of family members.
His death closes a chapter in Lemon Grove’s history that still resonates with thousands of local residents. Who, in this historic city, doesn’t have a Miller Dairy bottle? Who doesn’t remember the fun and convenience of having a working dairy smack in the middle of town?
Who hasn’t visited the Parsonage Museum of Lemon Grove to ooh and ah at that big, original Miller Dairy sign, tall milk cans and bottles in their wood-and-wire carriers?
Those bottles are now handed down in families as cherished memorabilia, a thought that probably didn’t occur to Bill’s dad, Earnest Charles Miller, who started the dairy in 1926 on 16 acres with one cow and a lemon orchard.
In 1893 Miller had arrived in town as a shoemaker, but got work at a nursery on North Avenue in Lemon Grove. There is a story told by Tony Sonka of Sonka Bros’ General Store fame that a nursery worker went berserk one morning and nearly killed Miller with an ax.
That sparked a desire for his own spread. On June 14, 1893 Miller bought 10 acres for $950 on Broadway between Buena Vista and Massachusetts Avenues.
That led to homebuilding on Kempf Street and more land purchases until he landed the biggest spread of all, the one that supported generations of Millers to come. Miller had a wife and three boys, Herbert, Edward and William for whom he built a home at 7953 Mt. Vernon Street.
Bill “grew up dairy” and held many jobs in the company, from milker, cow wrangler, calf birther and equipment repairman, to feed handler and milk truck driver.
Sporting a snappy white shirt and pants, he drove the gleaming white DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) all over East County. He was there at the end when the company ran out of Millers to run it -- oh, there were plenty of children and grandchildren, but their future lay elsewhere in education, medicine, law and business. In 1985 the cows went to Chino and the last bull to Mexico.
Lemon Grove residents erupted in outrage when they learned their beloved dairy would become the Miller Ranch subdivision on both sides of Skyline Drive.
Emotional public hearings drew accusations of civic mishandling -- “They’re destroying our soul!” said one resident (reported in the Lemon Grove Review). But the city was simply evolving and it was incumbent on the city council to ensure an attractive new neighborhood. They succeeded and today Miller Ranch is full of families, gardens, tidy streets, even little koi ponds. And Miller Dairy milk bottles.
“Miller Dairy” has remained a phrase in the local lingo.
Bill was born on Christmas Eve, 1921. He attended Sacred Heart Elementary School, where his musical gifts became evident. As a 10-year-old drummer, he performed in the 1934 Rose Parade. He graduated in 1940 from Grossmont High School, where his passion for music took off and he became a well-known band drummer in the county.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Bill was listening to the radio while milking a cow in the dairy stable. Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the death toll was staggering. Suddenly, Bill’s generation was at war. At 18-going-on-19, like millions of other young men, he joined the war effort, working as a radio operator on a C47 in the Army Air Corp for the duration of the war, 1942 - 1945. But Bill’s music career continued with the Officers Club Jazz Band and the Bonham Brothers Band.
Bill met the love of his life, Audrey Wahl, in 1943 on the Admiral Kidd Paddlewheeler in Saint Louis on the Mississippi River. She became a war bride on July 4, 1944.
Safely back home at the war’s end they lived in the Miller Dairy milk house before moving to their own home in Lemon Grove, where they raised a family.
Audrey’s needlework, cooking and painting skills were complemented by Bill’s music, sparkling sense of humor and their shared love of family.
Bill knew tragedy. He lost Audrey in 2007 after 63 years of marriage and lost his son, Ray, and his grandson, Jeremy.
He is survived by his son Chris Miller (Sandie), daughters Joyce Benjamin (Mike) and Claudia Motal (Rob), seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 14 at Conrad Mortuary and at a Mass at Santa Sophia Catholic Church on Jan. 15. He was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery.
The family is grateful to Sharp Hospice for their loving care of the family patriarch in his final months. Donations in Bill’s memory can be sent to Sharp Hospice Care.
They also spoke to the existence of local institutions like Miller Dairy (1926 - 1985), for nearly six decades the beating heart of Lemon Grove on Skyline Drive with its 400 cows, retail store, corrals, hay bales and fragrant manure.
Bill Miller, WW II veteran, lifelong Musicians’ Union member, Knights of Columbus and VFW member, and beloved dairyman in East County, died at 93 on Jan. 8, 2015 in the presence of family members.
His death closes a chapter in Lemon Grove’s history that still resonates with thousands of local residents. Who, in this historic city, doesn’t have a Miller Dairy bottle? Who doesn’t remember the fun and convenience of having a working dairy smack in the middle of town?
Who hasn’t visited the Parsonage Museum of Lemon Grove to ooh and ah at that big, original Miller Dairy sign, tall milk cans and bottles in their wood-and-wire carriers?
Those bottles are now handed down in families as cherished memorabilia, a thought that probably didn’t occur to Bill’s dad, Earnest Charles Miller, who started the dairy in 1926 on 16 acres with one cow and a lemon orchard.
In 1893 Miller had arrived in town as a shoemaker, but got work at a nursery on North Avenue in Lemon Grove. There is a story told by Tony Sonka of Sonka Bros’ General Store fame that a nursery worker went berserk one morning and nearly killed Miller with an ax.
That sparked a desire for his own spread. On June 14, 1893 Miller bought 10 acres for $950 on Broadway between Buena Vista and Massachusetts Avenues.
That led to homebuilding on Kempf Street and more land purchases until he landed the biggest spread of all, the one that supported generations of Millers to come. Miller had a wife and three boys, Herbert, Edward and William for whom he built a home at 7953 Mt. Vernon Street.
Bill “grew up dairy” and held many jobs in the company, from milker, cow wrangler, calf birther and equipment repairman, to feed handler and milk truck driver.
Sporting a snappy white shirt and pants, he drove the gleaming white DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) all over East County. He was there at the end when the company ran out of Millers to run it -- oh, there were plenty of children and grandchildren, but their future lay elsewhere in education, medicine, law and business. In 1985 the cows went to Chino and the last bull to Mexico.
Lemon Grove residents erupted in outrage when they learned their beloved dairy would become the Miller Ranch subdivision on both sides of Skyline Drive.
Emotional public hearings drew accusations of civic mishandling -- “They’re destroying our soul!” said one resident (reported in the Lemon Grove Review). But the city was simply evolving and it was incumbent on the city council to ensure an attractive new neighborhood. They succeeded and today Miller Ranch is full of families, gardens, tidy streets, even little koi ponds. And Miller Dairy milk bottles.
“Miller Dairy” has remained a phrase in the local lingo.
Bill was born on Christmas Eve, 1921. He attended Sacred Heart Elementary School, where his musical gifts became evident. As a 10-year-old drummer, he performed in the 1934 Rose Parade. He graduated in 1940 from Grossmont High School, where his passion for music took off and he became a well-known band drummer in the county.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Bill was listening to the radio while milking a cow in the dairy stable. Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the death toll was staggering. Suddenly, Bill’s generation was at war. At 18-going-on-19, like millions of other young men, he joined the war effort, working as a radio operator on a C47 in the Army Air Corp for the duration of the war, 1942 - 1945. But Bill’s music career continued with the Officers Club Jazz Band and the Bonham Brothers Band.
Bill met the love of his life, Audrey Wahl, in 1943 on the Admiral Kidd Paddlewheeler in Saint Louis on the Mississippi River. She became a war bride on July 4, 1944.
Safely back home at the war’s end they lived in the Miller Dairy milk house before moving to their own home in Lemon Grove, where they raised a family.
Audrey’s needlework, cooking and painting skills were complemented by Bill’s music, sparkling sense of humor and their shared love of family.
Bill knew tragedy. He lost Audrey in 2007 after 63 years of marriage and lost his son, Ray, and his grandson, Jeremy.
He is survived by his son Chris Miller (Sandie), daughters Joyce Benjamin (Mike) and Claudia Motal (Rob), seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 14 at Conrad Mortuary and at a Mass at Santa Sophia Catholic Church on Jan. 15. He was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery.
The family is grateful to Sharp Hospice for their loving care of the family patriarch in his final months. Donations in Bill’s memory can be sent to Sharp Hospice Care.
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