Rex R. Miller

Rex Miller was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada on August 1, 1913, and was ushered into Heaven on September 14, 2007 at the age of 94. In his earliest years the family moved to Iowa, Montana, and Nebraska. His ninth birthday was celebrated on a train bound for California when his grandfather moved Rexs mother and his three siblings from North Platte, Nebraska. They arrived at Lompoc, CA when the seven ill-fated U.S. Navy vessels shipwrecked at nearby Point Pedernales. The lasting impression on young Rex paralleled the later historical account of Course 095 to Eternity. The family moved further north in Californias Central Coast and settled in Garden Farms. Rex attended grammar school, Margarita Black High School (now Atascadero H.S.), and graduated from California State Polytechnic College (now CPSU) in San Luis Obispo with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1934. His life has been punctuated by many interesting and historical events which he good-naturedly shared with his close family and friends. One memory was his having personally met the notable Charles Lindbergh (subsequent to the historic transatlantic flight) when Rex and friends spotted a falling piece of Lindberghs glider and helped Lucky Lindy retrieve it. Rexs career was characterized primarily by quality construction. From 1937 to 1943, for J.S. Metzger of Los Angeles, California, he quickly worked his way up from reinforcing iron worker to carpenter foreman and superintendent in charge of building State highway bridges. For three years he was General Superintendent, responsible for building Army camps, commercial buildings and bridge work and supervising 1,102 employees. In December 1943, during WW II, Rex left this responsible position to enlist in the U.S. Navy, and proudly served his country as a SeaBee, participating in the Pacific Theater in Saipan, Okinawa, and in building the worlds largest airfield on Tinian. After Honorable Discharge, Rexs many previous scholastic achievements including higher math, physics, refrigeration, structural engineering and correspondence courses led to his attaining both B1 and A1 licenses as a General Building and Engineering Contractor. He established his successful contracting business based in Atascadero, and for seventeen years his distinguishing mark of quality design and construction were being left on custom residential, commercial, and government construction. Rex married his wife Rosa in 1954, raised their three children through Atascadero schools, and the couple was honored as Atascaderos Colony Days Royalty in 1995. Among other volunteer activities, in the 1950s Rex became a key charter member of Tri-Counties Boat & Ski Club, for which he surveyed the property, assisted in composing by-laws, etc. Rex eventually closed his distinguished contracting business to serve the State of California for 17 years, culminating as Direct Construction and Restoration Supervisor of the State, overseeing historical projects such as Hearst Castle, Colombia and Sutters Mill, to name a few. Subsequent to his retirement from the State, Rex and Rosa enjoyed traveling by RV throughout the U.S. and Canada. Rex also established a unique woodworking hobby, wherein his creations have become a lasting legacy to his perfectionistic qualities and his zest for the life he thoroughly enjoyed as an active participant. In 2004, Rex traveled through the Midwest with his grandson and daughter. After researching, exploring, and falling in love with Southwest Missouri, grandson Troy and daughter Sara helped to facilitate Rex and Rosas relocation in 2005, where their lives have been further enriched by both old and new friendships, enjoying their mutual passion for the Midwest, and proximity to eldest grandson Kurt and extended family in Tennessee, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. Rex was blessed with lifelong good health, enduring brief hospitalizations and challenges of declining health only after the age of 90. Rex epitomized his zest for a life of excellence in hard work, honesty, good humor, and solid Christian morals and ethics. He is survived by wife Rosa, daughter Sara, 11 grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson. Brother and his wife; Bill and Del Miller, Palm Coast, FL., nephew and his wife; Ray and Nancy McKelvey, Morro Bay, CA., niece and her husband; Shirley and Lyman Menger, Castro Valley, CA., niece and her husband; Jan and Jim Castro, Palm Coast, FL., great and great great nieces and nephews. He will be forever loved and cherished by all who knew him well. Services will be held at Butler Funeral Chapel in Bolivar at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, followed by full military honors conducted by the AMVETS Post #114-Flemington, MO with internment at the new Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield. Memorial Contributions in honor of Rex Miller may be made via Butler Funeral Home or directly to Hume Lake Christian Camps, 64144 Hume Lake Road, Hume, CA, 93628 Friends may sign the guest book or send private condolences at www.butlerfuneralhome.com PDF Printable Version

Rex R. Miller

August 1, 1913 - September 14, 2007