Charles Jordan Miller

Charlie Miller departed this world to be with his Heavenly Father on January 28, 2021. He was born in 1926 in Highland Home, Alabama, to Maude Emma Watson and Charles Tankersley Miller, the only boy among four female siblings. Charlie graduated from Montgomery County High School in Ramer in 1944. After a short stint in the U.S. Navy, he returned to Montgomery to work first at Brubaker Motor Company as a mechanic’s assistant before joining the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company at its Montgomery store as a gas attendant and outside salesman. Forty-five years later, he retired in Atlanta (1990) as a Regional Sales Manager for Goodyear.

While living in Montgomery in the late 1940s, Charlie met the love of his life, Josephine R.Lease Arnett of Athens, Alabama, while attending a softball game at Maxwell Airforce Base. After a long-distance courtship involving many weekend train rides between Montgomery and Athens, Charlie and R.Lease married in March, 1948 before returning to Montgomery to begin their new life together. Over the next 71 years, they moved numerous times as Charlie’s career with Goodyear took him through various management and sales positions. Charlie and R.Lease began their family with the arrival of a son, Charles Lane, in Montgomery in 1949. Later, the young family moved to Shelbyville, Tennessee, where son Michael Arnett was born in 1953. Further career moves took the family to Decatur, Alabama, then to Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Tullahoma in Tennessee before stints in Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; and, finally, Atlanta, Georgia.

Known to his grandchildren as alternately “CJ” or “Good Daddy,” Charlie led an active and adventurous life in retirement. He remained an avid Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, became a Georgia Master Gardener, and actively supported the Georgia Wildlife Federation. “CJ” also became an accomplished photographer and could frequently be seen with his camera around his neck scoping out the next sunset or landscape or arranging the latest family photo. He and R.Lease were also enthusiastic travelers, making numerous trips throughout the U.S. and Canada and to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In later years, Charlie became a member of the American Legion and Elks’ Club. He never knew a stranger and had many friends throughout his life.

Preceded in death by his wife, R.Lease, Charlie is survived by his two sons, Lane (Sherry) and Mike; four grandchildren, Jaime Still (Greg), Jordan (Nicole), Brad (Mathilde), and Laura Wyatt (Jon); three great grandchildren, Lakelynn Harper Miller, Charles Frédéric Miller, and Augustus James Wyatt; and his sister, Wynnette Netz, as well as extended family in Arizona and Alabama.

Charlie and R.Lease were blessed in recent years with two special neighbors, Melanie and Bobby Jones, who invited them to join St. Timothy United Methodist Church and encouraged them to undertake a very meaningful spiritual journey. Charlie remained active at St. Timothy as a greeter, Sunday-school teacher, and Bible-study participant.

Charlie’s family wishes to acknowledge and celebrate Barbara Quinn, whose devoted friendship after R.Lease’s passing deeply enriched Charlie’s life. From travelling to the mountains of North Georgia to “cutting the rug” at the Elks’ Club (including at least one clogging episode), singing along with impromptu musicians at Matthew’s Cafeteria in Tucker, and throwing a Halloween birthday party, Charlie’s relationship with Barbara brought great joy in his last two years.

In view of the pandemic, Charlie’s family will hold a private graveside service in Athens, Alabama. A celebration-of-life service will be held at a later date. Contributions in honor of Charlie Miller may be made to St. Timothy United Methodist Church (5365 Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain, Ga. 30083; 404-292-5969) or to the Georgia Wildlife Federation (11600 Hazelbrand Rd., Covington, Ga. 30014; 770-787-7887).