Bruce Thomas Miller Sr.

Our dad was a shepherd. “A shepherd?” you ask. Yes, a shepherd. He served as a pastor for 43 years within the Tucson Metroplex. Over the course of those years, he spent many hours sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and evangelizing souls on university campuses, city streets, parks, nursing homes, hospitals, the prisons, and various other locations. He was an avid supporter of Israel and partnered with organizations such as Christians United for Israel (CUFI). His favorite Bible verse was John 3:16:

”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.“ John 3:16 NKJV

He began his life in Roswell, NM, a gift from God Almighty to his parents on May 24, 1942. He arrived during the turmoil of World War II. His father passed away in November 1951 when he was only 9 years old. During this time, he began to hang out with some of the local cowboys. They lived in a bunkhouse on a ranch and worked herding cattle. They liked our dad and let him hang out with them. They called him “Buttons” for a nickname. Something about hanging out with those cowboys stuck with our dad his entire life and never left. Our dad has always loved western wear and westerns.

Eventually his mother met another man and remarried. The family moved to Clifton, Arizona. His step dad had a son that was mentally disabled. Our dad adopted that boy into his heart as his brother. He loved him. Unfortunately his step dad ran over our dad’s step brother, killing him. This was a great loss to our dad. He mourned the loss of his only brother for many years.

Our dad excelled in athletics playing football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. He lettered in sports, eventually earning a full athletic scholarship to Northern Arizona University (NAU). During his freshman year at NAU, he was injured and unable to continue playing football. He returned to Clifton and took a job working for the Coca-Cola company driving a delivery truck. During that time, his half-sister, Melanie, was born and his mother died during childbirth. This was a devastating event for our dad. He decided to leave Clifton and join the Air Force. He enlisted and served during the Vietnam War.

Eventually he met our mom and married her in January of 1967. Our mom already had four children so our dad became a stepdad overnight at the age of 25. He and our mother had six more children, totaling 10 children altogether. He was a devoted and loyal husband to his wife of nearly 49 years.

During his stint in the Air Force, he dedicated his life to Jesus Christ, a decision that radically changed his life. He loved to tell people about Jesus and loved reading the Bible. He was a humble man who did not “think more highly of himself than he ought to think.” (Romans 12:3). After he married mom, who had four teenage children, he needed a better paying job. One day when he was building septic tanks, he cried out to God for a better job in order to support his family. He had only one year of college and no college degree or any other qualification for a job at Hughes Aircraft Company, now Raytheon Missile Systems, but God miraculously got him a job there through the referral of John Callicotte’s uncle, Jack Marks. Our dad had such an incredible work ethic! Combined with his faith in God, he continued to excel at Hughes Aircraft moving up the ranks of employment.

Through the years he was consistently promoted and ultimately became the head over the plating department. His close friends of more than 40 years, John and Claire Morgan, recall that whenever the chemical plating baths would go wrong, he would call the church to pray that God would show him what was wrong with the bath. Every time God showed him how to fix the problem, a problem that not one of the degreed engineers could figure out. He typified Psalm 119:99: “I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.” He never sought recognition or awards or tried to make a name for himself.

All that he did, whether for family, church, or his job, he did “not with eyeservice, as a man-pleaser, but as a servant of Christ, doing the will of God from his heart.” (Eph.6:6) Many times throughout the years they tried to force him to work Sundays and stay late during weekdays but he refused stating that he had a family to care for and he was not going to miss church on Sundays. They threatened to fire him on various occasions for this stance of family and faith, but God Almighty protected him. He remained employed with this company for 40 years before retiring in December of 2008. During the last two years of employment with Raytheon, he was tasked with putting his knowledge of plating engineering processing into manuals. They told him his applied practical knowledge did not exist in textbooks and was a necessary component for the job.

When we were little, our dad would rock us and sing a lullaby he created. He’d sing:

“I’m back in daddy’s arms,

Back where I belong,

No fears or harms,

‘Cause I’m back in daddy’s arms”

I don’t believe he realized he was “pastoring” us by singing the identity of Father God into our young lives. As our earthly father, he represented our Heavenly Father, singing and speaking identity into us with that lullaby. He would carry this ministry to us as his children into the pulpit of the church he began co pastoring with our mother in 1973. We have memories as young children of him coming home and playing “bucking bronco” with us by laying on his back and bouncing us on his legs. He took us on many family trips to the beach in California, or the forests of Northern Arizona, and several times up Mt Lemmon.

He had such a fun sense of humor! On road trips, he would wait until everyone was settled and semi-sleeping and suddenly he’d whistle loudly and hit the steering wheel laughing at all of us jumping out of our skins! You could see his personality in his signature. The initials “B,” “T,” and “M,” in his signature were fancy, large and sort of flowery, while the rest of the letters of his name were perfectly shaped and so tiny you almost needed a magnifying glass to read them! This was our dad; an introverted perfectionist with an outward flare! His name was a combination of his family tree last names: the Bruce’s, the Thomas’s and the Miller’s (formerly Muller). His paternal great grandfather migrated to Texas from Germany in the 1800’s.

Our dad had many talents; he was a gifted singer. He had a rich, deep baritone voice. Our mother used to love hearing him sing “Oh Love of God.” We always enjoyed listening to him sing.

All of his athletic and engineering achievements aside, his life’s primary passion was sharing the Love of Jesus. He spent the majority of his life preaching the gospel from the pulpit or on the streets of the city. He was involved with the Gospel Rescue Mission for years. He took copious notes from his studies of the Word of God. We remember finding some of those notes after our mother passed away and were astonished at the depth of research and compilation he had accumulated from his studies of God’s Word.

The legacy that our father would wish to leave is that of being known as a man who pointed others to their Savior, Jesus Christ. He would want all to know that Jesus loves them, that Jesus came to give all eternal life, and that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved! For with your heart you believe unto righteousness, and with your mouth you confess unto salvation. He was definitely an evangelist as well as a pastor.

In summary, our dad was an overcomer through the Resurrection Power of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He would want all in attendance here today to have the same personal relationship with Jesus Christ that he so deeply valued and relied upon. He would want all of you to have the same eternal life that he is enjoying, and he wants to see you again on the other side in Heaven. Our dad would want all of you to be led in the prayer of Salvation.

Please join me in praying: Father God, according to Romans 10:8-10, I believe that you raised Your Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I ask for and receive Your forgiveness for all my sins, transgressions and iniquities. Jesus, I receive You as my Lord and Savior from this day forward and forever. Amen

Our dad was a son, grandson, husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather, student, athlete, singer, employee, and friend. But the most impactful role he lived was as a shepherd to the sheep of the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Our dad was a shepherd. And now, he is with the greatest Shepherd of all!!! Amen🙏

Bruce is survived by his children: Charlton Darrell Coffman, Clara Katheryn Emberton, Jacqueline Joanne Andrade, Karen Elizabeth Bellassai, Timothy Nathaniel Miller, Caleb Joel Miller, and Nazareth Melody Miller, as well as 24 Grandchildren, 34 Great-Grandchildren, and 15 Great-Great-Grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife Malta Mae Miller Sherrill; parents George Floyd Miller Jr and Jacqueline Marion (Thomas) Miller; and children Sherry Diane Crooks, Myra Kay Coffman, and Bruce Thomas Miller, Jr.

A Visitation for Bruce will be held Friday, April 5, 2024 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM at East Lawn Palms Mortuary, 5801 East Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85712, followed by a Funeral Service from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, and a Graveside Service at 3:00 PM. A reception will take place from 3:30 - 5:30 PM at East Lawn Palms Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that you make a love offering to your church in honor of Bruce.