Leone Sophie Miller

Leone (Lee) was born in Los Angeles, California, to Swiss immigrants William E. and Louise (Von Kanel) Blatter. Lee was the third of six children. The family moved to the Beaverton area in 1926 where they owned and operated Cornell Goat Dairy on Barnes Road for several years where now the 4th generation of the Blatter family operates Cornell Farm retail nursery.

In 1933 Lee married Ivan R. Miller of Portland; they had three children. In 1944 she went to work at Rettman’s Market in Sellwood, and in 1950 she and Ivan opened a grocery store in the Milwaukie area which supported the family for six years.

She decided to take up ballroom dancing as a hobby and became accomplished enough to win a trophy during a competition.

Lee then became a buyer’s representative for a lingerie company out of Los Angeles, traveling throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming for years. She also worked briefly as a model. After traveling for several years she opened and operated three lingerie shops in the Portland area known as The Leisure Trunk until her retirement in her 80s.

Ivan R. Miller died in 1999. Leone is survived by a son Howard G. Miller and wife, Vera, of Molalla; a daughter, Lorraine Therese Miller, a Doctor of Music of Sun City West, Arizona; a daughter, Sister M. John Therese, SSMO (Alice J. Miller) of Beaverton; a sister, Pauline Klein of Molalla; and several nieces and nephews. Lee is preceded in death by four siblings.

Lee was a pioneer for women in business, a smart business woman, and a strong-willed person who believed where there was a will, there was a way. After her busy, entrepreneurial life came to a close, she traveled to her ancestral homeland in Switzerland, and enjoyed hosting many gatherings for extended family so they could get to know each other. She loved entertaining family and friends and they all appreciated her great culinary skills

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Arrangements under the direction of Skyline Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, Portland, OR.