William Wesley Miller

William Wesley Miller, 94, of Sage died Wednesday at this home. He was born December 6, 1920 at Zion, Arkansas, the son of Edward and Tena Miller. He attended grade school at Zion and graduated from Melbourne High School in 1940 where he was active in FFA and became a state vice-president in 1939. After high school, he graduated from American Technical School, receiving a degree in Business Administration. He then attended Arkansas Tech College in Russellville, Arkansas until World War II broke out and then worked for Warren McArthur Aircraft Corporation in Bantam, Connecticut as a supervisor in building aircraft seating until entering the U.S. Navy, where he served seven years in the active and Naval Reserve. He married Verna Mae Johns in 1943, and they had two sons, Larry Miller and Douglas Miller. After World War II, he and his wife owned and operated a general merchandise store at Zion. He also taught agriculture in the veteran's on-farm training program at the Melbourne High School for 6 years and then he went to college at the University of Arkansas and received a master's degree in vocational education. He taught for a while in Ohio and did some post graduate work at Ohio State University. In 1956, he started working for a feed and veterinary products company and became a district manager working in several states. He and his wife, along with his father, owned and operated a beef cattle farm near Sage. After his father died, he and his son, Douglas, and grandson, Daniel, continued to raise beef cattle. He had been a member of Melbourne Masonic Lodge #141 since 1945.He was a member of Fairview Missionary Baptist Church at Violet Hill, Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his wife, Verna Mae Miller; his parents, Edward and Tena Miller; a son, Larry Miller; a brother, Amon Edward Miller, a sister, Lorene Richardson, and an infant sister. He is survived by one son, William Douglas Miller and wife, Tammy Miller, of Sage; a daughter-in-law, Barbara Slivinski and her husband, Jerry Slivinski of New York; grandchildren: William Daniel Miller and wife, Brooke Miller; Holly Brooke Harris and husband, Lee Harris, William Wesley Miller II, Rebecca Jane Sterling and husband, Todd of New York and five great-grandchildren: Ty Miller and Emmitt Harris of Mount Pleasant, Ark.. Kyle, Tommy and Kiera Sterling of Berhards Bay, N.Y.; and a host of other family and friends. Pallbearers will be Tate Lawrence, Clifton Rush, Tony Moser, Kurt Meskimen, Harold Marlin, and Raymond Staggs. Honorary pallbearers are Ray Vanatta, Glen Billingsley, Jay Ward, and Kevin Hardaway. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Fairview Missionary Baptist Church in Violet Hill with Randy Bailey and Grayden Milligan officiating. Burial will follow at Zion Hill Cemetery in Zion under the direction of Roller-Crouch Funeral Home of Melbourne. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Zion Hill Cemetery, P.O. Box 792, Melbourne, Ark. 72556 and Fairview Baptist Church Building Fund, Hwy. 56, Violet Hill, Ark. 72584. www.rollerfunralhomes.com/melbourne.