Andrew Patrick Miller

Andrew Patrick Miller, 54, passed away Monday, March 30, 2020 at Frye Regional Medical Center, in Hickory, North Carolina. He was born July 3, 1965 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the son of Andrew and Kathleen Miller.

Although he was named for his father, Andrew, he always went by Pat with his friends and family, and from an early age wanted to be his own man. As a teenager, he established a lifelong passion for the outdoors, taking up hunting, trapping, and fishing. He went out on a cool day with a cheap fishing rod and came home, arms full of fish, but without the rod, exclaiming with unbridled amazement that there were so many fish he tossed the rod and jumped into the creek to grab the running salmon with his bare hands - and he had the fish to prove it. Pat always lived life to the fullest like this. As a young man, he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a mechanic, looking to earn his father’s approval for the choices he made and the expertise he developed. He followed this work into the US Army when he enlisted in 1984 as a generator mechanic, serving at Fort Hood, TX, and in South Korea.

Pat’s life took many turns, but when he later met his wife, Guihua, in Hickory, NC, he settled down and his devotion to family found a home in her. After marrying, Pat and Guihua moved to China, where he spent five years teaching English as a second language, learning Chinese, and spending time with Guihua’s family. Pat was as dedicated a teacher as he was a fisherman, jumping right in to help each of his students learn English (including the swear words he should not have been teaching them!). Pat had a wicked sense of humor, and it showed on his face when he told a story. After coming home from China, he joked that he knew the school administrators were listening in on his classroom when he openly “praised” them to ensure he would be given extra school supplies. He always delighted in knowing that he had gotten the best of an unfair system.

When Pat and Guihua came home to North Carolina, he returned to working as a mechanic, most recently supporting customers with his work family at the UK-based Generator Guru, where he was admired and loved as a colleague and friend who brightened the days of customers and colleagues alike. As with teaching, Pat was delighted in knowing that he had saved the company money and helped someone solve their own problem, values he learned from his father.

Pat always wanted to be a father, so he and Guihua fostered children making their way through the system in Hickory, NC. He always asked for the children that nobody else wanted to take, the kids with Down syndrome, or serious medical or psychological issues. Pat treated each of them as his own child, however temporarily, giving them food, a home, patience, and love, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Pat didn’t father one or two children - he was foster father to a dozen children whose lives were improved for the time they spent with Pat. This is how Pat lived. No matter what challenges he faced personally, he always had a huge heart and improved the lives of the people around him.

Patrick was preceded in death by his mother, Kathleen.

Patrick is survived by his wife, Guihua Miller of Hickory, NC; father, Andrew Miller of Elkin, NC; siblings Michael Miller of Bowie, MD; Todd Miller of Ravenna, OH, Kathryn Blackwell and husband, Edward of Lenoir, NC; and Brian Miller and wife, Shelly of Granville, OH.

Due to the Coronavirus restriction imposed by the CDC, we the family, have chosen to not plan a funeral service at this time. Once our lives return to some normalcy and we better understand the virus, we will reconsider. Please share any memories or stories that you have of Pat. No matter how small or short they may be, any comment is meaningful during our time of grief. We have entrusted the funeral arrangements to Drum Funeral Home in Hickory.