Born 31 Dec 1915 in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Evelyn Alberta (Stielow) Miller — married 18 Dec 1942 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died 30 Aug 1994 at age 78 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Pat Miller [send private message]

Biography

John was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, the second child of Charles Reuben Miller and Florence Elizabeth Prichard. His mother died when he was 10 and his father when he was 12. John and his sister, Catherine Bartlett Miller, then lived with Frances Prichard their aunt. Frances was a school teacher in Owen Sound, who never married and suddenly had two children to raise. John's childhood name was Jack, which he abandoned when reaching adulthood. During the Depression John spent his summers at the Sidney Lanier Camp in Maine where Frances Prichard was working organizing the meals for the roughly 120 campers. The experience left a lasting impression on John and no doubt helped him cope with the loss of his parents at such an early age.

Jack in his sailor suit

Later in the 1930's he worked on tourist boats on Georgian Bay to earn money to attend Queens University at Kingston, Ontario. He also attended the University of Toronto. Although he was a teacher in rural schools for several years, John became a meteorologist after graduation in 1942. He worked for Environment Canada until his retirement in 1978 and often did weather broadcasts with CBC Radio in the 1960's.

Happy Couple

John married Evelyn Alberta Stielow in 1942 and they had one daughter after years of trying to start a family.

New Father

John and Evelyn in Ottawa, 1960

John and Evelyn were married 51 years before he passed away. Coming from a musical family influenced John and he played many instruments, notably piano. He was a member of the Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra (Montreal) in his latter years. Always keen to create, he built a tape recorder from scratch, painted a mural on ancient civilizations and wrote a book on the history of the automobile. As a former gymnast, he was still proficient enough to walk across a suburban lawn on his hands at age 50. He cheerfully drove his family across the continent twice to visit every natural attraction west of the Mississippi. John was a loving husband and an exceptional father. He died in Montreal in 1994.

John's Pursuit of Evelyn

John fell in love with Evelyn when they were students at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He wrote columnist Dorothy Dix for advice. "I am a young man torn between love and ambition. I am in love with a girl, but I am still in college and will not be financially able to marry for several years. Shall I marry her and give up the profession I have been fitting myself for and take any job I can get?..." Dorothy advised him to stay in college. If the girl didn't love him enough to wait, she wasn't the right one.

I found the newspaper clipping in an old scrapbook from Dad's college days. Of course it wasn't the whole story. He didn't totally take the advice. He kept asking my mother to marry him. She wouldn't say no. She wouldn't say yes. She said: "We'll see." The campaign lasted two years. Finally Dad asked on Valentine's Day 1942 and Mom said yes.

Years later I asked her why she was indecisive and she said: "I knew he was the right man the day I met him but I wasn't ready to marry. One needs to be ready."

Here they are in their "courting days", the Masonic Ball held in Kingston in the fall of 1939. It was a public party so non-Masons could attend.

Masonic Ball 1939

Amateur Photographer documents family life

Family life in the 1950s to early 1960s as photographed in Black & White by John R. Miller.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:John%20Miller's%20Black%20&%20White%20Photos

John's Daughter continues interest in Photography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Patpics

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:FlowerPat

Sources

• Ontario, Canada, Births, 1832-1914, John Russell Miller, 31 Dec 1915, Owen Sound, hospital, father Charles Reuben Miller, painter, 716 3rd Ave. East, Owen Sound, mother Florence Elizabeth Pritchard
• Province of Ontario, Form 26, The Vital Statistics Act, BIRTH CERTIFICATE, MILLER, JOHN RUSSELL, Date of Birth Dec. 31, 1915, Sex M., Place of Birth Owen Sound, Grey Co., Registration Jan. 25, 1916, Issued at Toronto, Ontario, Canada the 2 Day of May 1958
• 1921 Census of Canada, Owen Sound, Grey North, Ontario, River Ward, 716 3rd Ave. E. Charles R Miller 51, interior decorator, income $1,800, brick house, owned, 7 rooms, Florence E Miller 38, wife, Dora C. Miller 11, daughter, Catherine Miller 7, daughter, Jack Miller 5, son
• 1931 Census of Canada, Owen Sound, Grey North, Ontario, Center Ward, 506 9th St. East, value of house $5,000, 7 rooms, has radio, Elizabeth Pritchard 81, widow, Frances Pritchard 51, daughter, teacher, high school, earned $2,000 in 1930, single, Catherine B. Miller 17, granddaughter, John R Miller 15, grandson
• U.S. Border Crossing from Canada to U.S. 1825-1960, 7 July 1933 Buffalo, New York, John Russell Miller with friends Rose Hiscok and Sylvia Moss, Departure contact, Aunt Frances, length of stay, 2 months Note: The three were on their way to Lanier Camp in Maine (note: the previous year he was refused entry at Buffalo. In 1933 he had paper work and a letter from the Mayor of Owen Sound)
• MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. This Certifies that on the eighteenth day of December 1942 The Rite of Holy Matrimony was duly Solemnized by me Between John Russell Miller of Owen Sound, Ontario and Evelyn Alberta Stielow of Toronto, Ontario And Dominion of Canada Witness my hand this eighteenth day of December 1942 Gordon Domm, Officiating Minister 8718 License Number
• Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980, John R. Miller, Meteorologist, Montreal 1963
• Lakeshore Cardinal Inc. Funeral Home, PROOF OF DEATH, John Russell Miller, Place of Death, Montreal General Hospital, Date August 30, 1994, Attestation of the Declaration of Death No 4002843

Lanier Camp, Eliot, Maine, United States

• Lanier Camp Profile

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sidney_Lanier_Camp

Teenage Campers Showing Off

• The Camp was created by the Lanier family of Mrs. Elizabeth (Masson) Lanier and her three sons. Maud Elizabeth Masson

Jack and the Car

Excerpts from a personal book written in April 1976 by John Russell Miller, known in childhood as Jack. The book included his research on transportation but was sprinkled with memories, some of which are included here.

At Owen Sound, a sleepy town on the shores of Georgian Bay in the dying hours of 1915 Jack appears on the scene. The first four or five years are a bit hazy -- but there seem to be few contacts with cars. Earliest recollections are of buggies, sleigh-bells and horses.

1922. Father buys a Model-T Ford Touring car. It comes with running board, three funny pedals, vertical glass windshield and a crank. Someone shows father how to operate the crank. Jack listens carefully to the description of the cranking procedure. One keeps all five digits on the same side when using the crank. Failure to observe this could result in a dislocated thumb should the "monster" backfire. Standing still the motor rumbles and the chassis jiggles. In motion the Model-T bobs along. Be easy on those corners--keep your four wheels on the road. "Do we need gas?" Hop out-- lift the front seat cushion and test with a stick of wood. If the last two inches are wet, plenty of gas.

1923. By now father feels sufficiently confident to offer the family a trip to the Metropolis (Toronto). Oh rapture. Mother has packed enough picnic lunches for the entire trip. Because of the distance (130 miles), an overnight stop is planned in Barrie. Father has brought along a canvas tent-like structure and uses the car as support. Jack finds it fascinating to drive through towns and villages with names like Meaford, Thornbury, Collingwood and Aurora. When they reach the big city Jack has dressed for the occasion in his sailor's suit with a cord and whistle.

1924. Favorite childhood game: Used Car Salesman. The cars are cut-outs from magazines which are dispersed around the room. Stutz, Pierce-Arrow, Reo, Stanley-Steamer, Cord, Marmon, Packard, Sunbeam, Vauxhall, Auburn, Chandler and more. No adults object to the realistic car sounds the boys produce to sell their cars.

1926. Following the untimely demise of their mother, Jack and his sister Catherine are placed in the care of her sister Frances. 1928. Jack's father, an interior decorator who mixes his own paints, succumbs to the effects of lead poisoning.

1929. In the year of The Crash, Aunt Frances buys her first car-- a 1928 Willys-Overland Whippet. Remarkable lady, Aunt Frances -- she learns how to drive a car at age fifty. She names the car "green apple."

The 1928 Willys-Overland Whippet

1930. Lanier Camp in Eliot, Maine is a summer camp with many cultural activities for girls and boys age six to twenty. Aunt Frances is to be the dietician with assistance from Mildred. Jack and Catherine are campers. Four people with their supplies of clothing and bedding for the entire summer set out in the tiny but rugged Whippet on their 600-mile journey. The luggage in duffle bags and suitcases is stowed inside and outside, using the roof and running board. The trip requires three days. It is not yet the era of motels. When night falls they look near the edge of town for a simple wooden sign which says "Tourists" and they are accommodated in a private home.

As sometimes happens on these long trips, the automobile shows symptoms of misbehaving. Since they are nearing Schenectady (New York), they pull into a veritable palace of car repair; two storys high and spreading an entire city block. Busy attendants in white coats record particulars. Seems it is the generator. The generator is replaced and they push merrily onward. Roads across the Berkshire Mountains are built switch-back fashion with hairpin turns. The valiant little green apple puffs and struggles with its heavy load on a warm day in June. Another garage is needed. In Springfield (Massachusetts) the mechanic has opened up the generator. They see a confused mass of rust and filth. Since he was no replacement part he spends the rest of the day cleaning the Schenectady generator.

1931. Jack is fifteen and interested in learning to drive. Cyril, the Church Organist and family friend, has the task of breaking him in. "You know how to work the gears?" "I think so." "O.K. Let's go." For a half hour they drive around town while Cyril smokes a pipe and looks out the window. Lesson over. To obtain a driver's license in Ontario one must be sixteen. Jack becomes sixteen by back-dating his birth year. He later learns that a false statement is subject to a penalty of $100 (4 months wages if he had a job) and his application for the 1932 license is to be written on the back of the 1931 license. Jack lists his true birth year on the 1932 side and spends time fearing he will be caught; wasted worry as it turns out.

1932. Aunt Frances is delayed for the annual summer trip to Camp Lanier. She will arrive in a different car and hands the keys to the Whippet to Jack. Jack has two passengers for the trip, Rose, a Salvation Army lass who helps Frances with the housework and six-year old Sylvia, the daughter of Cyril, widower and occasional driving instructor. The Whippet arrives at Peace Bridge to cross from Fort Erie, Ontario to Buffalo, New York. A nervous Jack fumbles the first question about where they are headed. The second question is answered truthfully but doesn't impress the custom's officer. "You'll never make it on seventeen dollars." Jack suddenly realizes the problem. Here are three young people, not related to each other, possible runaways, with not much money and only a hazy idea of where they are going. Permission to enter the United States refused.

Jack does not give up. He drives to Niagara for a crossing at Lewiston, New York. The friendly custom's agent at Lewiston allows them to enter. That night they sleep under a tree. Ten dollars pays for gas and some food and they arrive at Lanier Camp with seven dollars to spare.

1936. Jack has a teaching job in rural Ontario in a one-room school house. He needs transportation. With a small inheritance from his late father upon turning twenty-one, jack buys a 1930 Indian Twin Motorcycle. The vendor describes briefly how to operate the bike, then Jack drives it home over five miles of icy, hilly roads, only falling off the bike once.

Jack's Motorcycle 1937

1937. The motorcycle is running well. Taking it up to seventy miles per hour on a straight stretch of road, the body suspended a few inches off the pavement, wind whistling about the ears, there is an unmistakable feeling of sifting along. At age 57 Frances takes her first trip on Jack's motorcycle.

1938. School is out. The money earned over two years is financing a University education beginning in the fall. But there is an overwhelming urge to go back and visit former haunts one last time. Jack roams around the countryside on the bike. He glances at his watch. Ten minutes to eight, ten minutes to get home to listen to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the radio. A final touch of the throttle meets with resistance. There is a clanking sound like bones rattling in a sack and the Indian Twin dies. Goodbye motorcycle. Next purchase will be a car.

Jack owns many cars during his lifetime. No matter the number of repairs, the break downs at inconvenient moments, the continual expense, nothing can dampen his enthusiasm for the joys of owning and driving cars.