Jerry C. Miller

Jerry Crawford Miller, a resident of Marietta, Georgia, was born December 9th, 1928 in Union City, Tennessee, and passed from this life on October 24th, 2024 at the age of 95 years, only six weeks shy of his 96th birthday.

He was raised on the family farm in Mason Hall, Tennessee, where he said the best day he ever had on the farm was in 1944 when his dad purchased the Farmall-A tractor and he drove it home from the distributor. No more walking behind the two mules for plowing and harrowing!

Jerry graduated from Mason Hall High School in the spring of 1948 and enrolled in William R. Moore School of Technology in Memphis that fall. In July 1950 he graduated from William R. Moore with a diploma from the Machine Shop Department.

He worked for a machine shop in Dyersburg, Tennessee until 1952 when he was offered a job at Lockheed Aircraft in Marietta. He came to Atlanta on June 13, 1952 and began working for Lockheed in tool design department and experimental engineering as Lockheed geared up for the production of a new military aircraft, the C-130, and was there when the first C-130 took off in August 1954.

He worked for Lockheed for the next 20 years and concurrently began to put together his own machine shop, Marietta Instrument Company, where he began to make a broad variety of aircraft parts for Lockheed including the C-130, Jet Star, C5-A, P3 Orion and the F-22 programs; and parts for The Coca-Cola Bottling Company, NASA, stainless steel horse bridals, and even oboe reed shaping tools for David Webber, an oboist at the time for the Birmingham Symphony. Jerry was a talented and gifted machinist.

During his early Georgia years, Jerry pursued one of his goals and obtained a private pilots license and then purchased a Cessna 140 (N89042) that he and Anne flew in for a few years.

Jerry met Martha Anne Cox at the West End Church of Christ in Atlanta where they married December 10, 1954. They soon welcomed four very energetic children into their lives: Glenn, Susan, Donald and Jennifer.

Jerry was a devoted and loving husband to Anne, his wife, for 63 years until her passing in February of 2018. They were active members of the Church of Christ on Roswell Street, Olive Street, Westside (Macland) and Smyrna Central Churches of Christ through the years. Also preceding him were his parents, John Crawford and Cathryn Toland Miller; and his brother-in-law’s, Harold Hatler of Martin, Tennessee; Todd Countess of Memphis, Tennessee; and Robert S. Cox of Conyers, Georgia; and his sister-in-law, Mary Ann Mayfield Cox of Conyers.

Survivors include his children, Glenn (wife, Diana) Miller of Midland, Texas; Susan Miller (husband, Mike) Frye of Fayetteville, Georgia; Donald Crawford Miller of Douglasville, Georgia; and Jennifer Miller (husband, Jerry) Wright of Atlanta. Grandchildren: Harrison (wife, Leia) Frye, Charlotte Anne Frye (husband, Jason) Finley and Preston Wright. And, Great-Grandchildren: Michael Frye and Isabella Frye. Sisters Sue Hatler of Martin, Tennessee and Peggy Countess of Memphis, Tennessee. Along with many nephews and nieces.

A Graveside service will be 11:30 AM on Monday, October 28, 2024 at Kennesaw Memorial Park in Marietta. The family will receive friend from 10 AM to 11 AM at the Carmichael Funeral Home in Marietta.