Cecil Howard Miller

Born in Manhattan, Kansas, Cecil was brought to Arizona as a 2 year old. He was born into a robust family of 5 sisters and 1 brother. At an early age, Cecil exhibited the traits that defined him: Intelligence, determination, an unerring work ethic, and a passion for doing thing his way. As an example of his grit, he loved to tell of the time when at the age of 15, with no driver’s license and very little driving experience, his employer handed him the keys to a truck loaded with tires and told him to deliver them to Prescott. With excitement, he told (in detail) how he navigated the treacherous, curving, two-lane highway through Yarnell and into Prescott where he successfully delivered the tires and declared mission accomplished. From high-school, Cecil entered the Navy, where he served a 2-year term. During this time, he attended Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During this 2-year period, he met Blanche Goodwin (admittedly with a bit of stalking on her part) and they fell in love, married, and began their journey of 67 years together. Cecil and Blanche moved to Arizona and Cecil then attended the University of Arizona, graduating as a mechanical engineer. Shortly after graduation, Cecil became an employee Arizona Public Service where he helped plan, develop, and install many of the power plants and power lines that the state still relies on for power. During this time, their nephew, Michael, whose mother had passed away, came to live with them. Before long, this forged into a loving mom, dad, and son relationship. Nothing gave Cecil more pleasure than relating the many camping trips, scouting excursions, hunting trips, and many more outings that the 3 of them so thoroughly enjoyed as family. Upon retiring from Arizona Public Service, Cecil found the time to do what he loved most, golf. He outdid Paul Revere in that neither heat, rain, fog, or haboob kept him off of the golf course where that little ball encountered Cecil’s determination to conquer it. After taming that little sphere, he and his buddies trooped off to McDonalds or Jack-In-The-Box for the breakfast biscuit. This all came to a halt as Cecil began to experience a decline in his health. Cecil would have nothing to do with wheelchairs, tubes, or other mechanical things needed to sustain life. On Friday, he had a great day, retelling his stories and reveling in the attention and love of his family. On Saturday morning, September 1, 2012, he took leave of this world. Surely, he is on a golf course telling his stories and, as usual, a few steps ahead of everyone else, doing things his way. He is survived by his loving wife, Blanche, devoted son Michael, loving daughter-in-law, Kathryn, sisters Leah, Faye, Fern, and Wanda, brother Jimmy, grandchildren Kaycee and Anthony, nieces, nephews, and many friends who salute the man who did it his way. God’s speed dear husband, dad, brother, grandpa, and friend. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 A.M., Saturday, September 15th, at Shadow Mountain Mortuary, 2350 E. Greenway Rd. Please visit www.shadowmountainmortuary.com to leave an online message for the family.