Obituary

Funeral services for James M. Miller, 91, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in First Christian Church with Jim Irwin of Idalou officiating. Burial will be in Plainview Memorial Park by Wood-Dunning Funeral Home. Mr. Miller died at 7:40 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, 2001, in Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock. He was born June 2, 1910, in Lockney. He graduated from Lockney High School and started a garage there while still in high school and later became a Plymouth-Chrysler dealer. In 1934, he began his flying career and bought his first airplane soon after. During World War II, he was a civilian instructor at Victory Field in Vernon, teaching primary students to fly. When the war ended, he moved to Plainview and was the first operator on the Hale County Airport. In 1946, he became a Bellanca dealer and later president of the company, serving on the board of directors for many years. Dealerships for most general aviation airplanes would follow at various times through the years including Aeronca, Funk, Luscombe, Cessna, Aircoupe, Piper and Aerostar. But the one thing that always remained constant was his love
for Bellancas and the worldwide following that developed. He was still working six days a week at Miller Flying Service until his recent surgery. He was a past president of Bellanca Aircraft and a longtime member of the Plainview Elks Lodge. On March 16, 1931, he married Elvie Rosetta Cook in Frederick, Okla. Survivors include his wife; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Marlin Miller of Plainview and Wayne and Pat Miller of Houston; two daughters and sons-in-law, Jan and Dr. Al Cornebise of Greeley, Colo., and Kay and Noble Koepp of Lubbock; one brother, Edgar Miller of Dallas; three sisters, Katheryne Tye of Kress, Frances Thompson of Fort Collins, Colo., and Mary Jeanne Moore of Lockney; 10 grandchildren, including Marla Hartman of Plainview; and 12 great-grandchildren. A sister, Virginia Batson, is deceased. The family will receive friends from 6-7:30 p.m. today at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the American Heart Association.
Plainview Daily Herald - Dec. 27, 2001