Ellen Miller

Ellen was the eldest sister of five siblings, Anne, Walter, Mike, Elsie and Carol.

With her husband, Albert (Al), Ellen moved homes a great deal in her lifetime - 16 moves at best count, not including the annual winter holidays in Phoenix. Add in 3 children, cats, dogs, birds, nags, thoroughbreds, cows and a full size house that they moved twice along the way. What an unbelievable amount of work!

Ellen had an early and on-going interest in crafting, knitting and crocheting her way through miles and miles of yarn. She made many scarves, sweaters and afghans for family, friends and charities. She was an avid card player who enjoyed many a bus trip to the casinos where she loved whiling away the hours playing the penny slots, almost never winning big but never losing large either. While describing herself as "not a fancy cook", she made countless great holiday and anniversary feasts and when time allowed, baked a fabulous loaf of bread, wonderful cookies of all kinds and, for so many years, both dark and light Christmas cakes which are still missed.

Throughout her years and across many moves, she was engaged with the Lutheran church in many capacities. She helped build a new church in Calgary and drove countless miles to take her children to confirmation classes over and above regular church attendance.

Once retired in Kelowna, Ellen found ways to be engaged in broader community initiatives as well. She was an active participant in the summer community at Holiday Park Resort where she and Al kept a year-round trailer. She also served on the board of their condo association, both as a general member and for a number of years, Treasurer.

Ellen was pre-deceased by her parents Alex and Joanna, by her husband Al, her grandson Christopher, her brothers Walter and Mike, and her sister Anne. She is survived by sons, Norman, Keith & Allan, her grandchildren Trina, Joanna and Andrew and her great-granddaughters Santana, Nora, Ruth & Hannah.

As Ellen held us in her heart with love, we now hold her memory dearly in ours.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Heart & Stroke are welcome.

A memorial service / celebration of life for Ellen will take place at First Memorial Funeral Services on June 20, 2025 at 3 p.m.

We look forward to having you join us then. To receive the service details by email or text message, register with ‘Get Reminders’ on Ellen’s First Memorial obituary or reply to Allan Miller at [email protected].