Carolyn Jo Miller

Born March 4, 1937 to William M. and Gladys P. (Mentel) Earley, Carolyn was a prolific writer who spent her life immersed in the literary arts and music.

She was a very hard worker and retired from the Michigan Secretary of State, Legal Division, Driver’s License Appeal Division in 2000. Previous to that role, she processed cases for twenty prosecutors at the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office. Her affinity and interest in Family and Criminal law began at the Family Law Center for Attorney David Zaffina as her writing skills became a huge asset to whomever she worked for.

Earlier in her life she worked at the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, John Henry Company, MSU, and as a sales clerk at Greens Apparel.

After retirement, she continued on as a freelance certified Court Reporter and clerked at Kohl’s to satisfy her fondness for designer clothing and accessories.

She received her Associates Degree at Lansing Community College and was a few credits shy of achieving her goal of earning her Bachelor’s Degree in English at Michigan State University.

Her love of prose, poetry and good stories are demonstrated by the bins and bins of books, writings, manuscripts, notes, diaries and stories in her home office. Her dream was to make the NY Times Bestseller list and we are pretty sure there’s a killer book in there somewhere. She wrote in her journal every single day and authored a children’s book. We had our very own proofreader in college.

She loved classical music as a pianist, and classic rock, especially Peter Frampton. We used to sit on the porch on hot summer nights and play Frampton Comes Alive over and over. In fact, when we were very little, some of those bands stayed at our house with our parents, such as Burton Cummings, The Guess Who and John Sebastian.

She loved the beach. We visited Cape Cod Massachusetts for the lobster and spent many endless summers up on Lake MI near Silver Lake Sand Dunes.

She also was a lifelong equestrian who rode English until she was thrown from a horse and sustained a serious ankle injury.

She was strong-willed and loving. She loved her kids and grandkids more than anything in the world. One of her last writings was how much she loved us.

She also adored her kitties Artemis and Luna and they miss her as well. All of her pets were her “booboos” and she missed her cat Pip and dog Ginger long after they were gone.

She still had items to accomplish on her to-do list and she was constantly organizing. Her body quit well before her mind and heart.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William M. Earley and Gladys Earley (Mentel).

She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Kristie Jo Taber and Kimberly Ann Miller; her 5 grandchildren, Kelsey, Colin, Courtney, Keira Ondrus and Kaeden Ondrus; her brother, Robert Earley; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in memory of Carolyn Jo Miller to: Capitol Area Humane Society Spay and Neuter Clinic, https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=cahsad&id=9 or mail to CAHS Spay & Neuter Clinic, 5919 S. Cedar Street, Lansing MI 48911 or McLaren Hospice at https://hospiceoflansing.org/donate/

Memorial services will be held at a later date.