JIM MILLER

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JIM MILLER With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of James Fulton Miller on April 7, 2014 at the age of 83. He leaves to mourn his wife of 61 years, Muriel; daughters Kelly (Mike Carpentier) and Jamie (Tim "Doc" Redden); grandchildren Kyla McDonald, Curtis McDonald and Tanya Pescitelli (Mike Sossai); great-grandchildren Shaylene, Natalia, Nicholas and Daniella; and sister Maureen Nordlinger. Jim was predeceased by his parents James Miller Sr. and Ella Miller and his sister Geraldine Miller. It was a blessed day when Jim Miller was born in Winnipeg on April 14, 1930. Though loved and adored by his parents, they would never fully come to know the legacy of love that their only son would create in his lifetime. Jim was a great kid; a fun-loving young man who worked and studied hard (finding time to annoy and mentor his two sisters) simultaneously! After graduating from Daniel Mac High School, Jim went on to earn his Commerce Degree at University of Manitoba and, subsequently, his Chartered Accountant professional designation. Jim met the love of his life, Muriel, at Grand Beach (on her 16th birthday). She became a lifetime partner who would share his values, his faith, but gratefully, not his strange sense of humour. They married in 1953 and, as luck would have it, Jim continued to be surrounded by women with the birth of his two daughters. With one bathroom and three women in the house, Jim became the most patient man on the face of this planet, and in the interim, managed to be the rock and the foundation for each of them through heartaches, joys, and triumphs. Truth be told, he was always infinitely proud of his three girls. Later in life, his gift was paid forward, and he was able to lean on them. As a young family man, Jim went on to build a prosperous accounting firm and later acquired Jean McIntosh Ltd., a successful needlepoint business that sold quality products throughout North America and around the world. One never got the sense, however, that Jim was in the business solely to make money. He approached business the way he approached life in general; providing an environment for friends and family to grow and prosper; promoting the value of life-long learning, putting service before self, and fostering an environment that combined humour, honesty, productivity and most importantly, grace. Second only to his family, was Jim's bond with his friends, and there were so many! Jim made friends wherever he went, but especially at Grand Beach. The doors were always open to everyone at his and Muriel's cottage, though sometimes he and good friend Ray Kirby would slip out the back to have "real men" conversations over a glass of beer. He was like a brother (and father) to family friends Cathy Baxter, Joan Culbertson, Kim Jasper "The Brat", and Fran Newton, providing each of them with a living example of how an honourable man lives his life when guided by faith in a loving God. Jim's famous smile was the consummate beacon of light for all of us. In it, we found both comfort and joy (and, of course, a suspicion that he was definitely up to something!) We miss him already, but know that he is still with us in spirit and bathed in love up in heaven. The family is planning a celebration of Jim's life on Saturday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Andrews River Heights United Church, 255 Oak Street, Winnipeg. Please join us.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 12, 2014