Josephine Miller

Josephine (Lang) Miller passed away in Ventura, California on Saturday May 25, 2013, with her children at her side. Her husband, William John Miller (Major, USAR, Retired), preceded her in death earlier this year on February 2, 2013.

Josephine was born on February 19, 1921 to Josef and Wanda (Onyszkiewicz) Lang, in Noue Solitza, Romania. She was the fifth of six children, growing up in a beautiful region of the country, in an area of the Carpathian Mountains (Bukowina). The family lived in the multi-cultural intersection of western and eastern European life, which flourished from the mid-nineteenth century until its demise as a result of World War II. The culture was influenced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a connection from the city of Czernovitz to Vienna, and the dominance of the German language and its arts and traditions, blended with Romanian traditions. This culture persisted even after annexation of the area into Greater Romania in 1918. Family life, education, and growing up in Romania were forever disrupted during World War II, and eventually the Lang siblings made their way to Germany, France, Austria, and the United States.

After World War II, Josephine met and married William (Bill) Miller in Germany and they were together for the next 66 years. She spent many years in Germany and later in the United States (Ohio), supporting Bill in his military career and raising three daughters. Josephine was a true matriarch and the house was often filled with extended family and friends from around the globe. She enjoyed traveling throughout Europe and the United States with her family and volunteering in the military community. Josephine was an excellent cook, gardener, singer, and seamstress, and she mastered numerous languages, most of them during childhood in Romania (German, Romanian, Polish, French, Italian, Latin, and English). She taught, encouraged, advised, protected, and loved her children. She was grateful that she could spend many years being with family, enjoying her grandchildren, tending the house, going to the Officer’s Club, and playing bridge, bowling, and golfing with Bill in retirement near Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Josephine deeply valued education and was immensely proud that her daughters earned advanced degrees and have been dedicated to their professions. Her love for her family, her generosity, her intelligence and guidance, the way she lit up a room with her personality, and her special gift of storytelling will be missed by many.

Josephine is survived by her only remaining sibling, her sister, Wanda Yanovich of Bowie, Maryland. She is also survived by her daughters Marjorie Miller (Clifford Howell) of Los Angeles, California; Maria Miller (Charles Worringham) of Brisbane, Australia; and Patricia Miller of Santa Barbara, California; as well as her grandchildren, Jeremy and Eleanor Worringham. She is also survived by many nieces and a nephew and their families in the United States and France.

She will be loved forever and will be remembered for her passion for her family, her resilience, and her determination. Inurnment will be at a later date, together with her dear husband Bill, in Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Virginia).