| Show JOSEPH P MILLER OF manager of moab coop co op co and member county of education succumbs cancer hundreds death brought to an end the career of one bt grand county s most enterprising and public spirited citizens saturday evening when joseph P miller president and manager of the moab cooperative co operative company vice president of the grand county board of education and for thirty years prominently identified with the public life of southeastern utah passed away at his home in moab following an illness of nearly a year s duration death resulted from cancer of the a mr millers condition was extremely grave but his remarkable vitality and dauntless spirit waged a brave fight against the malignant malady that was gradually sapping away his strength he was conscious almost to the last and never for a moment relaxed in his determination mi nation to get well mr miller had been in ill health for several years last summer while on a visit to his old home in ohio he contracted a severe attack of pneumonia and never fully recovered his strength after that time several months ago he commenced to fall again and the best medical science was consulted without relief some time ago his ailment was diagnosed as that modern scourge cancer the death of J P miller brings keen sorrow to the hearts of hundreds of friends old and young throughout grand county and th state of utah por thirty years he has been a warhorse in all movements tending tor the development and public advancement of moab and grand county probably no man has done so much to build up the county and the eastern part of the state in general his death Is a grievous blow to the community and the place he occupied in the business public and moral life of moab will be hard indeed to fill one of the largest attended and most impressive funeral services ever held at moab was conducted tuesday afternoon from the goodmen woodmen hall the spacious auditorium was filled to its capacity by mourning friends the floral display was a remarkable tribute to the wide friendship enjoyed by the departed citizen the casket was completely surrounded and covered by scores of beautiful wreaths and garlands of flowers the services were conducted under the auspices of the goodmen woodmen of the world and independent order of odd fellows lodges of which mr miller had been a prominent member H W balsley presided the services were opened by a song sweet peace rendered by a ladles quartet consisting of mrs nelden christensen mrs C E baldwin mrs A p and mrs H J Nl elsen the invocation was by bishop W D hammond another ladles mrs albert maxwell mrs tom taylor and miss bernace christensen sang oh my father the first speaker was 0 A robertson president of the county board of education of which mr miller had long been a member mr robertson stated that J P millers life was a record of continuous public service he belonged not only to his immediate family but to his community county and state and his death is a universal loss the speaker traced mr millers conr record of service in a public capacity mentioning his work in horticulture ti at moab and telling of the tro which he had won tor utah with displays of moab fruits at national irrigation congresses he referred to mr millers service in the legislature and of his great achievement in securing an appropriation from the state for the building of the bridge the colorado river at moab this bridge the speaker said stands as a monument to J P millers great ability and public service mr robertson told of mr millers work as manager of the exhibition department of the county fair during the past four years and of his service for a quarter iu of a century on the moab irrigation company and the moab pipe line company in which public enterprises he was a dominant figure the expressed the belief that J P millers greatest work was along educational cat ional lines he having been identified with the school administration in grand county for thirty years including eleven years on the county board of education and fourteen years previous to that as treasurer of the high school district mr miller brought to the board of education a keen business mind and a stable solid judgment that was of the greatest value to the county the speaker said that mr miller lived a clean christian life dedicated to the interest and welfare of his community and he leaves behind him a record that will endure mr robertson stated that for many years mr miller had had over his desk a little poem which in the opinion of the speaker expressed J P MILLER a creed by which he regulated his life I 1 it was this without confusion clearly love thy fellowmen fel sincerely act from honest motives purely I 1 trust in god and heaven securely A solo lay my head beneath a rose was sung by H C goodman jr bishop hammond followed with an address in which he endorsed that the previous speaker had said about the life and works of J P A wonderful spirit of peace and harmony was in evidence at the services the speaker said which spoke eloquently of the affection in which the departed brother was held bishop hammond read several passages from the scriptures and talked along religious lines in support of his conviction of a future life and the certainty of the reward that would come to men like J P miller he closed with the hope that all might emulate itha splendid example that had been set before us by mr bluer beautiful isle of somewhere was sung by mesdames maxwell taylor and maxwell and miss christensen W R mcconkle was the concluding speaker he referred to the great audience and the wonderful display of flowers as testimonials of the life J P miller had led the departed citizen he said was a man who had the push and energy to lead out in build in the community when were roads to be built mr miller built them when irrigation projects were necessary he took the lead in carrying them through and when a culinary water system was essential to the welfare of the town J P miller was in the vanguard in that movement and took active charge of building the pipe line the speaker also mentioned mr millers long service tor the schools of the county J P miller had those qualities that we revere and we will long remember and miss him mr mcconkle urged his family to be comforted by the thought that the departed husband and father had lived a life of utmost service to his community that he was a great and true man mesdames christensen Chrt stensen baldwin and sang evening prayer and the benediction was pronounced by J H johnson A great concourse of people accompanied the casket to the cemetery where the body was laid to rest beside that of joseph P miller jr who preceded his father in death by five years A choir sang nearer my god to thee and the grave was dedicated by bert allred the odd fellows burial ritual carried out joseph phlilip miller was bom at pennsylvania october 3 1870 when he was a child the family moved to ohio where he spent his boyhood days As a youth of 20 years mr miller came to moab and he spent the remainder of his life here giving unsparingly of his tune and efforts to the up building of his adopted county and state he was married in 1892 to miss alice kuhlsen of moab who survives him seven children were bom to them five of them surviving as follows mrs maud areld miss may miller mrs beula goodspeed mrs madge alron and ralph miller all of moab one daughter mrs rhea allred and a son joseph P miller jr preceded their father in death mr miller Is also survived by four brothers and one sister who are charles miller fort montana peter H miller council idaho oliver miller and frank miller ohio and mrs margaret benster Ken ster broadacre ohio imbued with unlimited energy and industry mr miller set to work soon after arriving in moab to helping build up the town and county one of his earliest positions was road supervisor er and he was one of the most active citizens in improving the highway to the railroad so that the products of the valley could be transported to market mr miller became interested te in fruit raising and early acquired a fruit ranch here he spent thirty years as an and became expert in the growing of fruits since 1800 he has been the manager continued on last page I 1 P MILLER continued from first page of grand county s fruit exhibits at fairs and national irrigation congress es he ile won va on two gold medals at the national irrigation congress at ogden in 1903 one for the finest display of commercially packed fruits and abne ne for the finest exhibit of peaches fruit grown and packed by him went into state exhibits which N won prizes at the boise idaho albuquerque new mexico and sacramento california irrigation congresses and for which trophies now on display at the state capitol were awarded to utah mr miller twice represented grand county in the state legislature first in 1907 and again in 1911 during the latter term he was successful in securing an appropriation of tor for the building of a st steel ee I 1 bridge acro across ss the colorado river at moab then the greatest need of southeastern utah mr miller was a director and secretary of the moab irrigation company for over twenty years and had charge of the installation of the moab pipe line later when the moab pipe line company was formed he became a director of that concern continuing in both these capacities up to the time of death for the past fourteen years he has been manager of the moab co opera tive company one of large general mercantile institutions five years ago he sold his orchards and had since given his attention exclusively to the mercantile business of which he was the largest stockholder mr miller has been manager of the grand county fair for the past tour four years and during this period has also had charge of the county s exhibits at the utah state fair he was always active in the affairs of the republican party of grand county and was republican county chairman at the time of death a position he had held almost continuously for about twenty years mr miller was especially devoted to the interests of the schools of the county for fourteen years he served as treasurer of the county high school district giving a great deal of his time to the cause of education during the early days of the county in 1918 soon after the school districts were consolidated mr miller was elected to the county board of education and he was twice reelected re elected serving altogether more than eleven years on the board during all of I 1 this time he held the position of vice president of the board mr miller was active in the work of the odd fellow and woodmen goodmen adges for thirty years he was one of the guiding spirits in the odd fellow fraternity and at the time of his death was president of the east j utah odd fellows ass association comprising all of the lodges in utah east of the wasatch mountains for over thirty years J P miller was intimately identified with every movement looking to the development of southeastern utah he was to in truth a leading citizen he was in the vanguard to promote any project that would tend to improve his community industrially educationally or morally it if ever a man was generous loyal and unselfish J P miller was that man his life was devoted to doing wb he ile was al alas alfready ready to extend a helping hand to any person in trouble or want and yet his his whole whole charity and generosity were I 1 extended without ostentation or display his was a heart of gold he loved his fellow men and his pleasure was nas derived from serving them moab and grand county have sustained a deep and grievous loss in the passing of J P miller he was so closely interwoven in the life of the community was the rock upon which so many leaned that his death comes as a blow to the entire town and county the sincere sympathy of all goes out to the good wife and children may they be comforted by the knowledge that he was one of gods noblemen and that the good he did on this earth will endure until long after the present generation has passed on |
