Jerry Miller

Jerry Miller, age 57, of Fort Collins CO, died February 1, 2011 at his home. A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, February 19th at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The service will be at King of Glory Lutheran Church, 2919 Wilson Avenue, Loveland CO. A reception will be held at the church immediately following the service. Internment will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, along with his older brother, father, and mother. Jerry Michael Miller was born on October 25, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan to William Miller and Martha Miller. He shared his birth date with his dad. Jerry was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. He was raised in Detroit through elementary school. Afterwards, he moved with his parents to Gaylord, Michigan where he graduated from Gaylord High School in 1971. Jerry enlisted in the Army in the summer of 1972 and was inducted at Fort Wayne in Detroit Michigan on November 26, 1972. Four days earlier Jerry and his family, his sister-in-law Lynn, niece Danielle, and her family, buried his older brother Bill in Arlington National Cemetery. Bill was an Army helicopter pilot, who was killed on a flight mission in Vietnam during his 2nd tour of duty. After entering the Army, Jerry was trained as a Radiology Technician. After completing Basic and Medical Training in the U.S., Jerry was stationed in Korea for the remainder of his tour of duty before being Honorably Discharged from Military Service. Jerry's parents, Bill and Martha moved to Fort Collins in 1977 from Big Rapids Michigan. He joined them shortly thereafter and finishing a summer job as a county park ranger. Jerry was immediately hired by John Dayton Sr., co-owner of Horsetooth and Monte Carlo Lanes as their Head Mechanic. Jerry held that job for over twenty-two years. During that time, he maintained the lanes, trained and supervised staff, mentored young mechanics and bowlers, and was looked to as Mr. Fix-It around the facilities. During his tenure, score keeping went from pencil and paper to fully automated overhead units for which Jerry was responsible for installing and maintaining. Later, Jerry went on to work for Sun Construction in Longmont, working on major projects locally at Hewlett Packard and others in the Denver area. More recently he work for Volt Technical Resources and Employment Solutions. Some of these assignments included work in the production area of New Belgium Brewery and construction work to reconfigure the Teledyne production buildings for reutilization. Jerry enjoyed boating, bowling, building and flying remote aircraft, challenging anyone to a game of trivia pursuit, golfing, playing darts, learning new computer technologies, figuring out how things work, fixing any thing broken, photography, and snowmobiling. He liked football; he loved the Broncos. Jerry enjoyed life and like his dad he will be fondly remembered for his love of children, his sense of humor, and how he valued his family and close friends. He is survived by his sister Susan C. Miller, of La Selva Beach, CA; a niece, Danielle Miller Wiedeman, a great nephew Joshua Louis, two great nieces Rhiannon Nicole, and Gabrielle Marie, all of Wellington, CO. He was preceded in death by his brother, CW2 William L. Miller III, who died in Vietnam, and his parents William L. Miller Jr. who died in 1999 and Martha A. Miller who died in 2007, both of Fort Collins, CO. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in Memory of William L. Miller III. Donations can be made online at www.vvmf.org or in care of Goes Funeral Care.