An American Family History

Virginia Maxine Smith Miller was born on September 29, 1919 in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska. Her parents were John Elmer Smith and Emma Ethel Bertrand. Her birth certificate said October 1, but the family always celebrated on September 29.

As a child she was sickly and nearly died from diptheria. Her family’s nickname for her as a child was “mope."

As a young adult she moved with her family to California from Nebraska where she found a job working for North American Aviation where she met her future husband, Robert Wilson Miller, Jr.

Her daughter, Shelley Mitchell, wrote of her brother, Norman’s, memories of this time

Everyone went to work and Virginia always just signed her whole check over to her father. Finally, he suggested that she should start her own bank account with some of her money, and at that point she got a reputation in the family for being frugal.  They teased her for years about going around asking for pennies to buy a stamp because she didn’t want to break a dime.

After her marriage to Robert Miller the primary focus of her life was her home and family. She was an active volunteer in the Presbyterian church, the Girl Scouts and the PTA. In her later years she volunteered at the Cabrillo Marine Museum. 

Virginia was a good homemaker. Her floors were always waxed and buffed, she starched and ironed her husband’s shirts and her daughter’s dresses, and cooked a well balanced meal every night.

Virginia was very smart and very funny. One year she bought a huge valentine for Bob with a picture of a monkey on it. He responded in a vague, pleased way, but didn’t seem to notice it, so Virginia saved it and gave it to him the next year too. He didn’t notice that it was the same card, so she put it away again. She gave him the same silly valentine every year after that. Another time she told her shocked teenaged daughters that she was expecting a baby. She carried on quite seriously for an hour or so and then said “April Fools!"

After her older daughters moved out, she worked as a secretary for an accountant in San Pedro.

She liked to sew, do needlework, read, play games and do puzzles.  She liked to travel and go to the beach.  She enjoyed being with her extended family.

She loved her grandchildren and spent as much time as possible with them reading stories, letting them win at old maid, sitting by the fire with popcorn, or flying kites.

She died February 8, 1991 at home after a long struggle with cancer. Her ashes are interred at Green Hills in San Pedro in the Sanctuary of Peace, Niche 125.

Presbyterians are Protestant Christians. The denomination originated in Scotland and congregations are ruled by elected elders. Presbyterian theology follows the Calvanist tradition and emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, and grace through faith in Christ.