Frances S Miller

Frances Wilcox Slauson Miller (Fan), formerly of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, was born on May 6, 1922, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and died in Tallahassee, FL, on May 11, 2019, at the age of 97, after a very brief illness. She passed away peacefully under Big Bend Hospice care.

Fan was the third daughter of Kinsley Wilcox Slauson and Janet DeWitt Mason, and the identical twin of Barbara Kinsley Slauson (Babbie). Their father was a career officer in the U.S. Army, so they lived at various posts. Most notable in their early childhood was their father’s assignment to Paris 1928-1932 to oversee the registration of American graves after World War I. During that time the Twins attended Gai Matin, a boarding school in Switzerland, and MacJannet summer camps in France. From 1932-1937, the family was stationed at Maxwell Field (now Air Force Base) in Montgomery, Alabama, followed by a one-year stay at a base near Washington, D.C. In 1939 they were transferred to Hickam Field (now Air Force Base) located adjacent to Pearl Harbor. Fan completed high school at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu in 1941 and began her studies at the University of Hawaii. The Slausons were at Hickam Field when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. Babbie and her mother returned to the mainland during the war; her father, older sister, and Fan remained at Hickam Field as part of the war effort. Fan and her sister served as members of the Women’s Air Raid Defense.

Fan was married to William Olliff Miller in Honolulu, HI, during World War II. After the war they lived in the Atlanta area while her husband pursued a degree in journalism at Emory University. They then lived briefly in South Carolina and than in the Chicago area. Fan and her two daughters moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, in 1957. Fan was very faithful in volunteer work as a scout leader and in clinics at Broward General Hospital. She was known for her warmth, playfulness, and genuine caring for others. Fan and her twin were both active and devoted members of All Saints Episcopal Church in Ft. Lauderdale for over 50 years until they moved to Tallahassee, FL, to be near Fan’s daughter Barbara and son-in-law Stan.

For the last eight years, she was a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church/Cathedral.

Frances Miller was predeceased by her parents, Col. Kinsley Wilcox Slauson and Janet DeWitt Mason Slauson, an older sister Janet DeWitt Slauson Bergen Rodier, her former husband William Miller, and by her beloved twin Barbara Slauson. She is survived by her daughters Ruth Wertheim of Mississauga, Ont., Canada, and Barbara Mattick (Stan) of Tallahassee, FL; nephew Pieter Bergen of Toronto, Canada; and two grandsons, their wives, and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 10am on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral - 4784 Thomasville Road, with a reception to follow in the Parish Hall.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, 4784 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, FL 32309 or to Big Bend Hospice, 1723 Mahan Center Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32308-5