Judy Lynne Miller

On the afternoon of October 1, 2024, our mother, Judy Lynne Miller, moved to heaven. She leaves behind her sons John Christopher Miller and Steven Lee Miller, her daughters-in-law Jessica Looney and Tara Miller, her sister Debra Taylor, her brother Michael Taylor (Debra), her grandchildren, Austin Miller (Rachelle), Addison Miller, Bailey Miller, John Bradley Miller, Max Miller, Ella Miller, her step-granddaughter Sadie Looney, a great-grandson, Matthew Luke, and many more family members and friends. She will be joining her husband John Kenneth Miller, their infant son whom they lost in childbirth, and her beloved parents Jerry and Louise Taylor in heaven.

Judy was born September 27, 1948 in Blytheville, Arkansas. She spent her childhood and early adulthood in Peoria, Illinois. After her marriage to John, his time in the Navy brought them to Millington, TN and then California. After his military service ended, they returned to Peoria, settled down, and started their family. They moved from Illinois in 1985 to Marietta, Georgia, and then in 1987 moved to Memphis, TN, which became home. John and Judy became business partners upon arriving in Memphis, first owning a Minuteman Press franchise and then owning and managing Plaquemasters for the next 20 years. Judy also worked for Union Planters & Regions bank until she retired.

To many people, Judy will be remembered most for her tremendous commitment to her sons and their involvement in taekwondo. She started her sons in the martial art when they were living in Marietta, and then continued to encourage their steady involvement in the art until they were both instructors and eventual taekwondo school owners themselves. She was a staple at the taekwondo schools, as well as at every taekwondo tournament and event, not only to support her sons, and then eventually her grandchildren, but to support everyone who looked to her as their “taekwondo mom”.

Judy was also a passionate genealogist. She dedicated thousands and thousands of hours of her life to researching and compiling her family genealogy, having successfully traced her family roots back to the 1200’s in Scotland, ultimately resulting in a family database that contained tens of thousands of names. If you ever met her and told her your last name, she would very likely figure out how she might be related to you.

Her other passion were her greyhounds. Her first greyhound came into her life in 1998 via the MSGAO (Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Organization), a group formed to provide adoption for retired greyhounds from the Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis, AR. What started as a single adopted greyhound ultimately became a decades-long dedication to adopting retired race dogs, sometimes as many as three or four at a time. Sadly, she left behind two greyhounds, AWOL and Adam, the latter being one of the last generations of greyhounds to race at the park before the track was permanently closed. They will certainly miss their mama.

Judy lived her life exceeding expectations. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was a toddler, which nearly ended her life. She was never expected to live past the age of 25. (She lived to the age of 76.) She was told that she should never have children, as doing so would result in either the death of her unborn baby and/or loss of her own life. (She birthed two sons with only minimal complications.) She was told that she would lose the use of her legs and require a wheelchair, or perhaps lose her legs to amputation outright. (She was walking with only the use of a cane right until the day she went to the hospital a month prior to her death.) In short, don’t tell Judy Miller she couldn’t do it, because that was all the motivation she needed to prove you wrong.

While Judy will be greatly missed here on earth, our loss is softened in knowing that she is back with her husband of 46 years, dancing with ease, enjoying a doughnut or a milkshake without concern, watching an endless movie marathon of John Wayne westerns (but only the ones where his character lives!), and listening to “Riders in the Sky” by the Sons of the Pioneers. Mom, may you always successfully complete the rest of your crossword puzzles in ink and have plenty of treats for the greyhounds. We love you so much and we will miss you for the rest of our lives.