Carolyn H Miller

Carolyn Helen Miller (née Morris) passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of May 15, 2023. Beloved wife of 61 years to Alphonse J. Miller; dear mother of Brian S. (Theresa) Miller, Jacqueline C. Dowdy, and Craig R. Miller; adoring grandmother of Nicholas Miller, Jacob Miller, Andrew (Kyler) Bowman , Emily Bowman, Ashley Miller, Christina Miller, and Ryan Miller; sister of William R. (April) Morris. Godmother of Tracy Mathews Shafer Nix. Sister-in-law to JoAnn Sims (deceased), John Miller (deceased), Mary Ann (Paul) Kohler, Lynn (Dennis) Mathews, and Pam (Marvin) Brown. Leaves behind several nieces and nephews. A dear friend to all who were blessed to know her.

Preceded in death by her parents, William C. Morris and Elvira Dorothy Morris (née Long).

Graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, Class of 1980, Carolyn enjoyed and endured a long career as a Registered Nurse, dedicating herself to the needs of patients at Mercy South in Fairfield, Ohio, then later at IUPUI Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

While enrolled at the University of Cincinnati, she was named Top Student in her class and served as President of the Continuing Education Association. She accomplished all this while raising her three children.

Carolyn took great joy in her children’s development, being active within the PTA, as a room mother, and volunteer. Even in her retirement, she often assisted her daughter, Jacki, herself a much loved kindergarten teacher in the Wichita Falls area.

A lifelong artist, Carolyn was exceptionally talented and prolific. In her early years, she focused on drawing and painting. She moved onto needlework, basket weaving, stuffed dolls and toys, and then to Halloween costumes for the grandchildren, knitting, and quilting. She produced hundreds of objects in her lifetime, the great majority with specific recipients in mind, all of which will be treasured forever. Emily would say, as it related to her grandmother’s afghans and quilts, that there was “love in every stitch.” Carolyn and members of her quilting guild created “comfort quilts” for donation to the Red Cross, the Pregnancy Center, and Patsy’s House for Abused Children.

Carolyn loved musicals, classics like “Singing in the Rain” and “Oklahoma” and particularly those starring her favorite performer, Elvis Presley. She loved Elvis so much, she’d get upset every time she’d see an Elvis impersonator on the television. Carolyn was in attendance at what would turn out to be Elvis’s last concert. She also liked to dance, taking tap dancing in high school, and later performing as a clogger in her 40s.

An avid reader of true crime mysteries, and Agatha Christie novels, Carolyn would have made a great detective had she chosen that vocation. She enjoyed late night television like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and variety shows such as Sonny & Cher and the Carol Burnett Show.

Carolyn grew up in Melville, Missouri. After her marriage to Alphonse, better known as “Jack,” she would move to Caseyville and Waterloo, Illinois; West Chester, Ohio; and Greenwood, Indiana, before settling in Holliday, Texas.

During Carolyn’s final years she struggled, as too many do, with dementia, eventually moving into Brookdale Sikes Lakes Assisted Living within its Memory Care unit. She received loving care there, and connected with nearly all of the care takers and fellow patients. The family is eternally grateful for the services provided by Brookdale, as well as those by Hospice of Wichita Falls.

Carolyn was lovingly devoted to her husband and children and extended family her entire life. As a mother, she was always on her child’s side, was her or his biggest supporter, and most honest critic. As a wife, she and “her Jack” grew closer with each passing year, with her bearing the bulk of the weight during the child rearing years due to his profession, and him doing so in the later years during her period of dementia, there to tend for her until her final days.

She will always be remembered as a gentle, kind-hearted, sensitive, and empathetic soul. She connected through kindness. She connected through laughter. She connected with a warm smile and beautiful expressive brown eyes. She connected through care. Even towards the end of her life, in her state of dementia, she would return to her nursing past, making “the rounds” with staff to check on the well-being of her fellow residents. Carolyn connected through Love.

Heaven has another angel, one who earned her wings long before reaching the Pearly Gates.

A small private service and entombment will be held at Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home in Wichita Falls, TX on May 18, 2023. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Wichita Falls.