Gary L. "Chick" Miller

A Confirmed Bachelor

Address: Iowa Veterans Home

Deck 2 South, Marshalltown, Iowa 50158

Life Since 1957: I attended MCJC '57 to '59. Enlisted US Army for three years. I was employed five years with Andrews Concrete, three years with Winnebago Industries. I bartended at the Half-Moon for Dick West and then for Mary Jo Stevens. Then the Colony Inn, Ventura and DownUnder Pizza. In the 1980s I worked for & owned Clear Lake Fishery, marketing frozen fish to various communities. When the fish market went to 'heck' I worked at the Golden Goose, Clear Lake and the Harbour Inn, Ventura. In 1999 health problems developed and I stayed home. In 2001, I moved to the Veterans Home.

Kept in Contact With: Since 2002 Andy, Bullet, Fuzz, Kotz, Mac, Mick & Pink pick me up. They play golf, I keep score & we drink a lot of liquids. They all tried traveling to Marshalltown twice a summer but its been a one-time summer event now.

Hobbies: Golf and bowling. Now it's poker and pinochle.

Favorite 57 Song: Sha'boom by the Crew Cuts

Like to hear from: Everyone!

Phone: Please note: 641-752-4200. Your call will be answered by IVH Staff on Chicks Floor (Deck 2 South). You will be advised if he may be available or he must return your call.

Email: Please note: Library@IVH.State.ia.us Gary L. Miller

Chick does not have an email account. He can't reply using the library e-address. Be sure to place Gary L. Miller on the subject line of your email, such is used to deliver it.

Limitations & Methods: Emails may be delayed due to staffing. Received by noon, weekdays, are sent to the residents. No delivery weekends/state holidays. Limit to messages (no multiple forwards or chain letters). Virtual greetings/special occasion cards are OK. Pictures are OK if sent as jpg. Limit to 4 maximum per time.

Gary "Chic" Miller

CLEAR LAKE - Gary "Chic" Miller, 68, formerly of Clear Lake, died Friday (Feb. 1, 2008) at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, at the Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. Fourth St. in Clear Lake, with the Rev. Tim Diehl of the First Congregational Church in Clear Lake, officiating.

Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel. Military nonors will be provided by the Clear Lake V.F.W. Inurnment will be held at the Clear Lake Cemetery at a later date.

Memorials maybe given to the Gary Miller Memorial Fund.

Chic was born on Feb. 27, 1939, in Clear Lake, the son of Gretchen Miller. He graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1957 and attended Mason City Junior College, and was a member of the National Honor Society. He entered into the U.S. Army in 1959 and was honorably discharged in 1962.

Following the service, he came back to Clear Lake and was a route driver for Marshall and Swift Inc. Chic was a bartender at the Half Moon, the Golden Goose and Harbor Inn.

Chic enjoyed golfing, playing Kismet with his buddies, playing cards, bowling and going to the casinos. He loved watching all sports.

Chic is survived by several cousins, Gayle Stokes, of Clear Lake, Jim Bird and his wife, Karen, of Mason City, David Bird, of Mason City, Linda Anderson and her husband, Robert, of Clear Lake, Bob Bird and his wife, Connie, of Clear Lake, and Jackie Saltzgaver, of Texas.

Chic was preceded in death by his mother, grandparents, special aunts and uncles, Adam and Molly Miller, and Helen and Roy Bird, and Wayne and Ann Stokes; and cousins Rex Miller, Joey Bird and Gordon Stokes.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 641-357-2193. www.colonialchapels.com.

Gary "Chic" Miller

CLEAR LAKE - Gary "Chic" Miller, 68, formerly of Clear Lake, died Friday (Feb. 1, 2008) at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

Memorials maybe given to the Gary Miller Memorial Fund.

Following the service, he came back to Clear Lake and was a route driver for Marshall and Swift Inc. Chic was a bartender at the Half Moon, the Golden Goose and Harbor Inn.

Chic enjoyed golfing, playing Kismet with his buddies, playing cards, bowling and going to the casinos. He loved watching all sports.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 641-357-2193. www.colonialchapels.com.

Memories of Chic Miller by Larry Andersen (1957)

I hope you have enough time and patience to read my remembrances of Chic.

I first met him at Central and for some reason he and I hit it off. Mr Gilmore, our principal and phy ed teacher, decided that we needed to learn the manly art of boxing. Somehow I got paired up with Chic, who was much bigger than I was. Just knowing that he was going to kill me, I closed my eyes and swung wildly. I caught him on the chin and down he went. My life was saved. Surprisingly our friendship grew and we spent more time together. We both enjoyed sports, played on the same teams, or somebodies backyard or any drive-way that had a basketball hoop. Not only was Chic a good athlete, he was also a good student. Did I tell you that he also was an excellent snooker player. When he lived next to the railroad tracks, near old highway 18 and a few blocks east of the Half Moon, he and I spent many evenings together playing "Huckly Buck". I always enjoyed talking with both his mother and his grandparents. I still remember seeing him and his mother at the movies or just out walking. I think she used to work at the Lake Cafe. After high school, we grew apart, but whenever I was back in Clear Lake, I would look him up and enjoy his company. I just remembered this---I once let him drive my "39 Ford and he ran into a tree. The memories just keep coming. He, I and others once tried to plug a watermelon with booze. We were going to take it to "Lone Tree Point" and enjoy a booze-filled melon. The booze wouldn't soak in fast enough and we said, "The hell with it!" We forgot the melon and just drank the booze. I loved that guy; his life wasn't easy, but he was so easy to like, and best of all he was a good friend!

In loving memory,

Andy (Larry Andersen- CLHS 1957)

I have some recollections about Gary "Chic" Miller. Probably anyone that knew him knew his phenomenal abilities on the pool table and he was a good athlete playing center for the 1957 Lions. These memories come a little later. Like Chic I started my college career of at MCJC and in the fall 1959 I decided that I needed a time to mature, my declining GPA of 1.5 headed for the cellar played an important part of that decision. So in the fall of 59 I dropped out and when Rodney (Ron) Johnson had the same experience at Iowa State and Darrell Lamping had been wasting his time in Clear Lake we all decided to enlist in the US Army under a Buddy System where we were guaranteed the same duty site for at least a year. That year after basic training in Ft. Riley found us all on a Nike Site in Cromwell Connecticut. If you wore your uniform on weekends one could take the train to New York City free. On one such weekend we found ourselves on Time Square looking at a movie marquees advertising Girls'Girls'Girls. Today this would be an R-Rated thing but then for young soldiers with hormones raging it was like a huge magnet. We sat about half way down and I cannot even remember the show but about half way thru someone sitting behind me poked my shoulder and said "Hey Knapp." I turned around and there sat Chic Miller. The odds on that must be fantastic in the heart of the largest city in the world to run into someone from our home town. Then to add to it Chic said he knew where Les Falk (CLHS 58) was stationed. That was just across the harbor on Staten Island. So we road the Staten Island Ferry over and found Les. The celebrations lasted for another year or so. Later Gary was transferred to Korea and we lost touch.

Then in the summer of 1961 just prior to my impending marriage to Shirley Monson (VHS 1960) I was out looking for a place to live off post. I found one and riding with Ron Johnson we came back to the post. At the guard gate the guard told me "Hey Knapp, you are going to Korea and Oh Yea by the way Johnson you are going to Hawaii."

Needless to say this did sort of discombobulate Shirley's and my wedding plans but we went ahead on August 9, 1961 and tied the knot. A month later found me on a MATTS flight to Korea. After some problems what a Typhoon that kept me in Japan for a few days I boarded another plane and flew into the Land of the Morning Calm. My first thing to do was go to the PX in Oui Jong Bu (Camp Red Cloud) and wait for a ride to my new duty site. Sitting there sipping a Coke, I heard the familiar, "Hey Knapp." Turning around there was Chic Miller again. This time I was arriving and he was heading home for discharge. Lightening does strike twice. After I returned to Clear Lake I saw Chic a few times at the Half Moon but we left for Iowa City and I lost touch with him. Then one day at the VA I ran into a man that knew him from the Soldiers home in Marshalltown. He told me about Gary being ill and I had the "good intention" of visiting him. Now I understand life is full of good intentions and if we don't act we reap a handful of regrets. Chic, I'm sorry I could have brought a smile to your face and saved a tear on mine. The following is dedicated to Gary "Chic" Miller who was a great guy to so many of us.

A Mystery Solved

Life truly is one of God’s mysteries.

One wonders when does it begin.

Is it when the mother conceives?

Or with the first cry, is that when?

Or was it when the Master took pen in hand

And wrote the history for the race of man?

The mystery remains for us to ponder

As our feet travel life’s paths, we wonder.

Does it matter? At birth, our souls are freed.

The steps we took and the paths we chose

Were our choices and became our creed.

How we spent our lives God surely knows.

So Gary “Chic” Miller has made that journey,

That leaves us with a lifetime of memories.

To recall his kindness and love as a legacy

When our lives are tossed onto stormy seas.

The Son of God was sent to us from above

Bringing the promise of His Word to guide.

Being blessed with His gifts of Grace and love

The mystery is solved.

Gary and Gretchen stand at His side.

Dedicated in Memory of Gary “Chic” Miller

So long Gary until another day.

Jim Knapp

(CLHS 1958)