Shirley Ann Miller was born Shirley Ann Garbisch on May 11, 1936 to William and Clara Garbisch in Colby, Wisconsin. She was raised on a farm with her brothers, Leonard and Merle. The family moved to Renton, Washington when she was 12 years old, and then to Bell Gardens, California. She graduated from Bell Gardens High school in 1954. In 1954, she met John H. Keeley at “The Wigwam” in Big Bear. John first saw Shirley’s smile and white teeth from across the dance floor. They were married on July 2nd, 1955 and they lived in Los Angeles. They had three children, Diane in 1958, John in 1959 and Nancy in 1961. Shirley worked for Bank of America as a teller and part of her employment was in the branch at Disneyland. Shirley and John lived in Buena Park but later divorced in 1967.
She left the bank and was employed as a switchboard operator and a secretary at Autonetics/Rockwell where she met William Miller and they wed in 1971 and moved to Anaheim. She quit her job as she and Bill began their own business, Custom Cornices, where she ran the business and sewed the cornices. They moved to Spokane Valley, Washington in 1993. She enjoyed living in Spokane Valley, she was very active in her church where she was a greeter and was involved in prayer groups and bible studies. She was on a bowling league and would go walking in the Spokane Valley Mall daily. She and Bill had a 5th wheel at Waitts lake where they would go every Tuesday to enjoy their boat and fish. In 2016, Bill passed away, in 2017 Shirley sold her home and in October of 2017 she moved to Merced to live with her daughter Nancy and son-in-law Tom. Here in Merced she would continue to walk daily in the Merced Mall, she loved her church, Calvary Chapel Merced, where she was a greeter. Shirley will be remembered for her warm and welcoming hugs, her kindness, smile and laughter; she had a great sense of humor. She was very active in the church where she attended a ladies Bible study and went weekly to their midweek study. You could find Shirley every Thursday morning at Jantz Café where she, Tom and Nancy would have breakfast. Shirley was a prayer warrior, always willing to lift anyone up in prayer. She would get up early every morning to read her Bible, going through it faithfully each year. She loved to garden and would be seen daily in the front yard tending to the roses and bushes.
She passed away peacefully on Nov. 13, 2024, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Diane, her father and mother, Bill and Clara Garbisch, her grandson, Timothy and her husband, Bill Miller.
She is survived by her two brothers, Leonard and Merle; her first husband, John, their children, John and daughter in law, Carol; Nancy, and son in law, Tom; her grandchildren, Natalie (Jonathan, spouse), Kayla and Sarah (JP, spouse); her great grandchildren, Eden, Zion, Mathias and Aven. She loved Jesus and was always looking forward to seeing her Savior. She said often once she got to heaven she told us this, “I am in my 30’s and I’m looking good!”
