MILLER, Bruce Henry, 72, passed away on June 18, 2019. Bruce was a very brave man, a generous man, a cancer survivor, and passed away after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Miller and Dorothy Anderson Miller. John Miller, Bruce's biological father, passed away when Bruce was a child and Dorothy remarried Oliver Carlson. Bruce and Oliver embraced each other as father and son.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Eugenie "Genie" L. Johnson Miller; daughter, Kelly Miller; and son, Tom Miller.
The memorial gathering will be held on Tuesday July 2, 2019 from 11:00AM - 3:00PM at the Silverthorne Pavilion located at 400 Blue River Parkway, Silverthorne, CO 80498. The memorial events will include refreshments and, if you wish to participate, a life celebration journey (short walk, crawl, bike, or ride) to commemorate his daily morning walk from the memorial pavilion to Bruce's Silverthorne house that will symbolize walking him home. There will be a guestbook to sign and water outside in the driveway if you choose to be part of this journey.
Bruce's family prefers that you please keep fond memories of Bruce in your thoughts and prayers. However, if you would like to make contributions in the form of items such as flowers, pictures, or cards in his memory please use the following address:
Bruce Miller C/O Kelly Miller
3474 South Grape Street
Denver, Colorado 80222
For monetary donations, please consider Colorado Mountain College and Wounded Warriors as potential beneficiaries. Please include "In honor of Bruce Miller" in the memo section of your check.
“In honor of Bruce Miller” to the Colorado Mountain College Foundation
802 Grand Ave.
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
or online at cmcfoundation.org
Telephone: 970-947-8378
“In honor of Bruce Miller” Wounded Warrior Project
1 South Nevada Avenue, Suite 205
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903
Telephone: 719-377-9491
"Papa Bruce," as many called him, was a kind and gentle soul and his light in this world will be truly missed. Papa Bruce had several passions in his life mostly being outdoors, hunting and fishing, spending time with family and friends, and working hard.
Bruce grew up in Sandwich, Illinois where he worked on the farm. Some of the childhood memories that he shared with his family were his love for animals and showing cattle through the 4-H program at the Sandwich community fair. Every year it was the event of the summer. Papa Bruce was also particularly proud to be the president of his high school class.
His father John was a fighter pilot in World War II and died when Bruce was a very young child. Bruce and Genie often shared that Kelly and Tom inherited some of their fearlessness from John.
If you knew Bruce you may recall that he was an avid Broncos and Colorado Rockies fan. In all his days at the memory care facility he donned a Broncos hat. Genie was his primary care giver during his times of need and throughout their 47 year marriage.
You can imagine he will be visiting the late owner of the Denver Broncos NFL football team Pat Bowlen to let him know he and his daughter Kelly went to the Super Bowl to see Payton Manning and the Broncos bring home the win and ask for eternal season tickets. We invite anyone who is attending his services to wear your favorite Broncos or Colorado Rockies gear in his honor.
Bruce’s passion for being with friends and family led him to become highly respected in the financial services industry. His dedication and hard work ethic, a gift both of his children have embodied, allowed him to help other families set up financial success during their retirement and for future generations. Papa Bruce used this gift to help inspire his clients to spend their retirement being able to connect with family and friends and live out their passions. Along the way Bruce created an amazing business, Peak One Financial, where he considered his clients, team, and co-workers members of the family.
When Bruce wasn’t working, you could bet he was fishing with family and friends. Bruce got to travel many places throughout the years. Some of his most favorite places in the world to fish with friends and family were: Lake Powell, Utah; Ketchikan, Alaska; Canoe Lake, Saskatchewan; and Lake of the Woods, Ontario. Bruce would take anyone fishing or hunting in a heartbeat, but some of his most favorite people to do this with were Neal Smith, Colin Cameron, Tom Adams, Dale Abel and of course his son and daughter. In the last 10 years of his life Bruce was accompanied by the sweet soul of Roxie the pug who was on his lap and by his side all the way through his journey with Alzheimer’s.
During a family meeting between Bruce, Genie, Kelly and Tom on Easter weekend of 2018 when Bruce’s mental health issues were most noticeable in his abstract reasoning, Bruce did his best to participate in family discussions regarding what was most important to him during the early hours of that morning when he felt his mind was clear.
On that Easter weekend Bruce expressed that he valued family, helping people, and the companionship and unconditional love of his beloved pug dog Roxie. The following is a synopsis of Bruce's thoughts and experiences in his final year.
He was proud of his talents in the areas of math, financial planning, and people skills, and he was dedicated to use his gifts to positively impact friends, and community.
Before entering the financial services industry, Bruce worked at a utility company for 30 years where he expanded his roles as leader and protector by making sure homes in summit county and across Colorado had sufficient heat during the coldest winters.
Besides live sporting events, movies were his next favorite type of entertainment. Classic Westerns were his preferred genre. The last movies that Bruce was able to attend in the theater were Avengers Infinity War and Mary Poppins Returns, the remake of Mary Poppins. He did not care for the Avengers movie because the bad guys won, but he enjoyed the songs and laughed at the dancing animated penguins in Marry Poppins song "A Cover is not the Book".
Bruce and his wife Genie purchased their first home in Silverthorne in 1974 and would later snowbird to Surprise, AZ. Bruce really enjoyed classic cars and singing along with the "oldies station," preferring hits from the 60’s and 70's. Although he lost the ability to speak, he was still miraculously able to sing all of the words to John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" on his final road trip from Arizona to Colorado.
Above all, Papa Bruce cherished family, friends and all the fur babies.
He will be greatly missed.
If you would like to sign this guestbook online, and share memories and send condolences and well-wishes to the family, you may do so at www.surprisefuneralcare.com.
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