Obituary of William Miller

William "Bill" Miller of Camrose passed away Sunday, June 14, 2015, just two days shy of his 92nd birthday. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Bill joined the Canadian Army in 1943 and proudly served overseas as a tank driver with the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment (the infamous "Kangaroos"). Severely wounded while in action in Germany in 1945, Bill returned to Canada in 1946 and settled in Hanna, Alberta, lured by the burgeoning oil & gas industry. His Army training served him in good stead; as a civilian he worked as a heavy duty mechanic, welder and a cat-skinner doing excavation and road-building. Bill worked for various companies in the Hanna area, among them Hudson's Bay Gas & Oil, Atlas Coal, Kirby Cartage, & Grover Construction. In 1967 he moved his family to Camrose, working for Rudyk Construction and once more in 1972 to Prince George, BC where he worked for RF Klein & Sons for 25 years until he finally retired and moved back to Camrose with his wife. In retirement Bill was a gardener and active in his Regimental Veterans' Association. Widowed in 2007, Bill was also diagnosed with dementia but remained independent until 2010 when he moved to Bethany Meadows Continuing Care Centre in Camrose. Left to cherish his memory are his four children Janice (David) Steiner of Camrose, Bill (Melaine Kemp) of Calgary, Marylou (Trevor) Marshall of Dawson Creek, B.C., and Phyllis Wagner of Dawson Creek, B.C.; one brother Roy (Ory); and two sisters Martha Jago, and Irene Hall. Bill was predeceased by his wife Vivian (nee Sieppert); children Douglas and Chris; grandchild Crystal McLellan; and siblings August, Thomas, Paul, and Danny. Bill's family wishes to gratefully recognize the wonderful and caring staff at Bethany's Spruce Cottage that always showed him great care, much affection and afforded him dignity and grace in his final days. A private family graveside service will be held at a later date from the Hanna Cemetery. If family and friends so desire, memorial donations are gratefully accepted to The Alzheimer Society of Canada.