Earl Miller

Earl Chester Miller, 82, of Ronan, Mont., formerly of Bruneau, died Friday, March 14, 2008, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont.

Funeral services were held Monday, March 17, in Ronan Alliance Church in Ronan. Graveside services will be held today, Wednesday, March 19, at Hot Springs Cemetery in Bruneau at 2 p.m.

Earl was born on April 24, 1925, in Spokane, Wash., to Earl "Buck" and Mary Miller. He was the oldest of four children: Clyde, Mary and Clarence ("Buster"). Earl grew up on a desert ranch in southeast Oregon. He graduated from Crane High School in 1943.

Earl worked for the Bureau of Land Management before serving proudly in the Korean War with the First Calvary Division. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in 1952.

He returned to the family ranch in Juntura, Ore., where he met school teacher Josephine Pence. They married on July 3, 1954, and had two children, Creighton Zigmont and Dixie Lee.

The family moved to Bruneau in 1960. Earl ranched there for more than 20 years before moving to Ronan.

Earl is survived by: his wife, Josephine, of Ronan; his two children, Zig (Wrene) of Challis and Dixie (Wes) of Columbia Falls, Mont.; his sister, Mary of Burns, Ore., his brother, Buster, of Battle Mountain, Nev. He was preceded in death by his brother, Clyde.

Montana arrangements are under the direction of Shrider-Thompson Funeral and Cremation Services in Ronan. Idaho arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.