Blanche Eleanor Miller

Blanche Eleanor Kuhn was born to Cora and John Kuhn in Glen Ullen, North Dakota on June 8, 1922. 1n 1926 her parents and she moved to Denver into a tiny two room house. John was very handy and added two more rooms and a bathroom. Mr. Kuhn was a chiropractor and set up a practice in downtown Denver at 16th and California.

At age nine Blanche’s parents divorced with John taking custody of Blanche and Jean her younger sister. Being in a household with a single parent is never easy. Blanche and Jean grew up being well cared for with a great deal of love.

Blanche grew up through the Great Depression and although there wasn’t a lot of money to be had she and Jean managed to get by. In 1939 Blanche graduated West High School and took a job as a waitress. That was where she met Jack Curtis. They fell in love and were married just after Blanche’s 18th birthday. On November 6, 1941, she gave birth to her first daughter Connie.

One month and a day later the world changed forever with the surprise attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Jack enlisted right away and was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division. Daughter Judy was born August 10, 1944 while Jack was stationed in Alaska where he became quite ill. He was sent back to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora and unfortunately died there. Blanche was alone in the world with two baby girls.

Blanche lived with sister Jean for a time and then bought a house on South Pearl street where she and good a friend lived till the end of the war.

On an April night in 1947 Blanche was introduced by a friend at the Rainbow Room dance pavilion to a “handsome blue eyed” retired Naval lieutenant named Carl Miller. Blanche’s life was changed again. They spent the next year dating with weekly outings at the Top of The Park in downtown Denver and at Elitch Gardens. In September 1947 they were engaged and married on May 29, 1948. Carl immediately became a “family man” and embraced Connie and Judy wholeheartedly.

Blanche didn’t know how much her life would change with Carl as he was always on a path toward self-improvement. Their first move was to Palisade, Colorado where their first endeavor was a peach orchard. Life for the newlyweds was not a normal one but full of adventure. They moved on from peach farming to chicken raising to being bar owners. On May 9, 1950 Blanche gave birth to daughter Carla followed on July 19, 1953 with the birth of son Mark.

Their varied life in Palisade changed in 1963 when Carl decided to finish his education at Colorado State University. Blanche fully supported without hesitation what would become a way of life for the next thirty years of moving up in the world as well as traveling around the world. Blanche and Carl would go on to live in Miami, Fl., Tanzania, Kuwait, and Madrid, Spain. Blanche was always an outgoing and friendly person and it was those qualities that helped Carl along the way. She was especially gifted at establishing relationships with the many diplomats that were encountered in their assignments.

In 1977 they moved back to the U.S. and lived in Denver with short stops in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and Newport Beach, California. Finally, in 1992 they moved back to Denver to retire and take road trips around the country.

Blanche was only more than happy to return to her beloved Denver where her lifelong friends and, particularly, her children resided. She loved being around her kids more than anything. She loved her grandchildren, Kevin, Greg and Molly. Most holidays, birthdays and other special events were spent with the family. In the last two years of her life she was especially delighted to meet her namesake, Eleanor Lynn Brookman.

Her friends will remember what a warm and gracious friend she was.

Her four children remember what a great Mom she was. They are most thankful to her for instilling in them a great deal of independence.

She is preceded in her passing by her beloved Carl who passed on August 20 2019. She is survived by Connie Quimby (Dick, her great friend), Judy Curtis (John Naylor), Carla Miller, and Mark Miller (Connie). Three grandchildren, five great-grand-children, one great-great-grandchild.

Mark Miller