James Lewis Miller III

Jim Miller died on October 30, 2015 in Garland, Texas after a battle with cancer. He was 74 years old.

Jim was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended 14 schools in 12 years from as far away as occupied Japan to Mobile, Alabama, to Ravenna, Ohio as his family moved with the U.S. Army. He graduated high school in 1958 at Austin High School in El Paso, Texas where he met his first wife, Catherine Carol Wipf. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1958, and in 1959, he entered the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in Bainbridge, MD where he became a member of Section 33. In the fall of 1960, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and became a member of the 12th Company in the Class of 1964.

After completing two and a half years, Jim left USNA to finish his education at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he married his high-school sweetheart, Catherine. They had four children and were married until her death in 1990. During his life, Jim also earned a Masters of Industrial Engineering at Kansas State University, an MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a degree in Mandarin from Beijing Cultural and Language University in Beijing, China.

Professionally, Jim was a Supervisor with General Dynamics in Fort Worth during the F-111 and F-16 projects. He was President of Border Foods, currently the country’s largest producer of green chiles and jalapenos, President of Pacific Data Services, and President of Sun Data Conversion Services. He also taught Accounting, Finance, Statistics, Economics, and Logistics at Mississippi State University, New Mexico State University, and UT-Arlington.

In 2001, Jim met his second wife, Janet “Jan” McKelva and they retired to the Firewheel Golf community, where Jim played golf year round, while Jan sewed beautiful quilts.

Jim loved telling jokes, playing golf with his friends, and watching Midshipman games, especially the Army-Navy game. Jim served his community as a lay leader of the Methodist Church, as President of the School Board, Rotary Club, Shrine Club, Firewheel Senior Golf Association, and actively participated in many other organizations.

Jim was preceded in death by his first wife, Catherine. He is survived by his second wife, Jan, son JJ Miller, of Plano, TX, daughter Mary Miller of San Antonio, TX, daughter Vera Taboada and her husband John, of San Antonio, TX, and daughter Catherine Aldana and her husband Gregg. He is also survived by his eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 7 in the Pavilion at the Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, TX. An inurnment ceremony will be held at the DFW National Cemetery in Dallas at a future date.

BEAT ARMY!