Arlene Miller

June Arlene (Chambers) Miller, 88, passed away September 26, 2014.

I was born in 1926 in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. My parents lived in a house out along the Big Blanco River approximately 10 miles outside of Pagosa. When it was time for my birth, my daddy sent for the doctor. Dr. Nossman was one of the two town doctors at that time and came as soon as possible to assist in the delivery. The other doctor was Dr. Mary, whose practice was in Pagosa for many years. All babies were born at home at that time and the parents had full responsibility for the care of the newborn from the moment of birth. Since Gammy Chambers (my Daddy, Ba Chambers, mother) lived just across the road, she came to help with tending to me as well. Gammy Put (Putnam, my mother, Millie Chambers, mother) came as well. My mama's mother and dad lived on the other side of town in Pagosa.

We lived in the house on the Big Blanco until I was about 2 years old. Then we lived in the "Big" house that belonged to my Daddy's parents, which was on the Little Blanco River, for several years. During my time as a very small child in this house memories are somewhat dim, but I clearly remember my parents putting a feather in the doorway to keep me where they wanted me to be. I was very afraid of feathers and would not go past them. I also remember the stories of how excited I was when daddy came home at the end of a work day. I had a little blue and white stroller that I got around in and one day rushed to meet my daddy so fast that I "strollered" right off the front porch. My memories of my Daddy were always filled with his unconditional love and patience. He always worked very hard to take care of our family. He mostly did farm and ranch work when I was young, but also worked for the county on the road crews.

Mama was a very loving, kind, good mother. She loved my Daddy and me very much and always wanted to be with him whenever she could. On that note, if he went fishing we went along with him. Mama and I would play in the sand at the edge of the river, we built many a sand castle along those riverbanks. She was a very good homemaker, she always raised a wonderful garden, and was a wonderful cook. She canned a good deal of our vegetables and fruit, when we had some. She also hunted and fished with Daddy for our meat. We ate deer, elk, & fish primarily. The beef we had were raised for selling for part of our income. She learned to prepare the wild game in such a manner that it had little or no gamey taste. She was a pro at frying fish.

One of my most fond memories growing up was playing with my dolls. My first doll was a gift from Gammy Chambers. She was a rag doll named Pansy Ann. I loved my doll very much. Mama made her some extra clothes so I could change them. She had a painted face and hair & I thought she was beautiful. The other doll I had that was a favorite came from Santa Claus. She had a wonderful porcelain face and a cloth body. At one time I left her outside when it rained and her face became all pimpled.

I went to school in Pagosa for two years, then went over to Bayfield for school for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. I then went to small country school for 6th, 7th and 8th grades. When it was time for high school. I went to Arizona to stay with Auntie Mildred and Uncle Lyle. It was a good time with my cousins, Gladys and Helen. I graduated from high school there.

After high school I decided that I would go to Denver and attend beauty school. I enrolled in Banton Beauty School and began my classes. I learned all about taking care of hair and nails. We did shampoo's, cuts, coloring and perms. Also learned all about manicures as well. I do remember that if a client we knew to be very difficult came in, we would all try to hide from the scheduler so we didn't have to be the one to work on them. While in Denver, I stayed with Delores Peddicord and her mother. Delores was a good friend from high school.

After completing beauty school, I worked in Pearl's Beauty Shop for a while. The shop was across the street from Denver General Hospital. Lillian Miller worked at the hospital in the laundry. She came to the shop to get her hair done. One day she was visiting with Pearl and they got to talking about Lillian's son, Bob and me. This eventually ended up as a "blind date". The first time we went out we ate spaghetti at an Italian restaurant. Can you image how embarrassed I was having never eaten spaghetti before? I had no idea how to attack my food. Bob was gracious in showing how to wind the spaghetti onto the fork so I could eat. What an experience that was! I had no idea that Bob would become my husband. As soon as Bob asked me to marry him and I told Mama and Daddy, Mama hightailed it up here on the bus to check out what was going on. We dated for three months and got married on July 4,1946. At the time I am writing this we have been married for sixty four years. Who would have ever thought that a blind date would last so long?

Our wedding was held in Pagosa Springs at the Methodist Church. For our honeymoon/vacation, we took Lillian and went to Wyoming to see Bob's Uncle Frank and family. We spent time with the family and cousins, Fritz and Chuck. When we arrived back in Denver we moved into the house on 1st Avenue that Bob and Lillian owned.

Bob worked at Denver Dental Laboratory and was there for about 70 years. He worked a lot of long hours and always called to let me know when he was coming home at the end of the day. While he was at work I took care of the house and the meals. His cousin, Irene Hagen, lived on the east side of Denver. Once in a while I would take the bus out to see her and spend the day. She and I always enjoyed each other.

About a year after our marriage I found that I was pregnant with our first child. Our daughter was born on April 2nd, 1948. We named her Georgia Ann. She was 21" and 7 lbs. 1 oz. We both thought she was the best thing in the world. Lillian was so excited about the baby that she could hardly control herself. We later had William Bay, born on May 8th, 1950 weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 oz. and Lyle Robert on June 12, 1954 arriving at 7 lbs. We were extremely happy with our wonderful little family and enjoyed our children very much. We always had a lot of love in our home.

As our children grew up, we never moved from our home on 1st Avenue. We were close with all the neighbors and the kids all played together all the time. As parents, we all watched out for all the kids on the block. There were the Butterfass's, Fraley's, Tourney's, & Stolley's.

As for school, the kids all went to Barnum Elementary, Rishel Jr. High and West High School. Bill and Lyle went on to college at Adams State in Alamosa. Georgia got married to her high school sweetheart in December of 1966.

Arlene is survived by her husband, Robert C. Miller; children, Georgia Schuessler, William "Bill" (Kathy) Miller and Lyle R. (Diane) Miller; grandmother of six; great-grandmother of seventeen (and one on the way) and great-great-grandmother of one (and two on the way).

Memorial Services, Saturday, October 11 at 11:00 A.M. at Red Rocks Fellowship Church, 11195 West Belleview Ave., Littleton, CO 80127. Pastor Jack McCullough, officiating.

Memorial Contributions may be made to Red Rocks Fellowship Building Fund.