Douglas Miller

January 6, 2011

EMPIRE — Douglas Lee Miller passed away peacefully on Jan. 6, 2011, at Munson Hospice House, with his loving wife, Sue, at his side.Doug was born Feb. 25, 1942, the son of LaRue and Marjorie Miller, who predeceased him. He was raised in East Lansing, graduating from East Lansing High School in 1960. As an East Lansing Trojan, he earned 11 varsity letters — in football, basketball and baseball. Doug graduated from Michigan State University in 1964 with a degree in business administration. Upon graduating from MSU, he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving for two years in the Signal Corps at Fort Gordon, Ga., and Ft. Belvoir, Va. Following his military service, Doug established a career in the insurance industry, representing Penn Mutual and then AAA Michigan, retiring from the latter after 27 years.At a casual reunion of former high school classmates, Doug and Sue Clemeson Cooley reconnected and were married 10 months later in April 1994. In 1999, Doug and Sue built their dream home on Armstrong Lake in Empire. There he enjoyed kayaking, swimming, fishing from the dock with his grandchildren, vegetable gardening, bird feeding and tending his pond.In addition to his wife, Doug is survived by his sons, Jeffrey (Wendy), of Oviedo, Fla., and Kevin (Amy), of East Lansing; stepchildren, Jill Cooley, Jim (Jandy) Cooley and Laurie (Jenny Knotts) Cooley; grandchildren, Brendan, Zachary, Cole, Madison, Drew, Paige, Tanner, Angel and Alexis; sister, Carol (Mike) Powell, of Redmond, Wash.; brother, Richard Miller, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; three nieces; and mother-in-law, Mildred Clemeson, of Glen Arbor.At Doug's request, cremation has taken place. There will be no funeral service. A family celebration of Doug's life will be held this summer. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Leelanau Conservancy, PO Box 1007, Leland, MI 49654; Interlochen Public Radio at www.ipr.interlochen.org; or Munson Hospice House. Please view Doug's online guestbook at www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com. The family is being served by Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home.