Lillian Miller

Lillian (Penner) Miller passed on to be with her Lord and Savior at Asbury Park in Newton on January 27 ^th 2017. She was 88 years old. Her son and daughter were at her side when she passed. Lillian was a loving, generous, kind and selfless mother and grandmother. She was deeply loved by her family and will be greatly missed.

Lillian Louise Penner was born on May 6 ^th 1928 in her parent's farmhouse near Alny Kansas. She was the 2 ^nd daughter of Peter C. and Anna Penner. Linda, her sister, was the oldest of the children, followed by 4 brothers: Erwin, Oliver, Joseph and Wesley. Lillian, the little sister came next and then a 5 ^th brother Roy who was the youngest.

During her childhood, her family lived on the farm near Aulne, then moved to a farm near McLains Kansas followed by a final move to their farm just south of Furley Kansas. Lillian's brother Joe died at a young age of 24 due to a heart related illness. All of Lillian's brothers and sister preceded her in death.

Lillian graduated from Whitewater High School in 1946. World War II had created a teacher shortage so Lillian was able to earn 8 hours of college credit and receive an Elementary Emergency Certification to teach.

Lillian taught at Harmony School for 2 years. While teaching at Harmony she met David Miller who would become her loving husband. They were married in 1947 and lived in Furley.

Harmony School closed in 1948 and was unified into the Furley School District. Lillian taught at Furley Elementary School for 3 more years until she decided to be a full time farmer's wife. Lillian and David had two children: David Lee Miller Jr, and Teresa Ann.

In 1955 Lillian and her husband bought and moved to a farm just southeast of Furley Kansas.

In September of 1963, her husband David passed away.

Lillian was left with the two children and the farm. She took on the role of minding the farm and serving a dual parent role to raise her two children. She went back to college at Wichita State University and graduated in 1969 with a Baccalaureate degree in education. She started that fall at Abilene Elementary School in Valley Center as a 4 ^th grade teacher. She remained there teaching for 21 years.

Lillian and Teresa moved from the farm into Valley Center in 1979.

Lillian was born into a Mennonite family. Her faith in God and her salvation through Jesus Christ was always important to her. After marrying David, she was an active member in the Furley Methodist Church and then later at Palmyra Baptist Church. In her later years, she also regularly attended the Metropolitan Baptist Church on Douglas St. in Wichita.

She is survived her son David, his wife Judy of Burleson, TX and her daughter Teresa and her husband Mark of Valley Center. She is also survived by 4 grandchildren: Krista Fields and husband Trey of Burleson TX, Tonya Kennedy and her husband Brian of Euless TX, Jaclyn Dewey and her husband Gavin of Valley Center and Jace Nibarger of Lakewood Colorado. She is also survived by 7 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on January 31 ^st from 6-8 PM at Faith Church at 325 N. Emporia in Valley Center Kansas. The Funeral will be held the following day, Wednesday at 10:30 AM. The Funeral will also be at Faith Church. Interment will follow at Green Valley Cemetery, Furley.

A memorial fund has been established at Palmyra Baptist Church, 999 NW Butler Road, Benton, KS 67017.

Visitation

Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 Place: Faith Church
325 N. Emporia, Valley Center, KS 67017

Funeral Service

Time: 10:30am, Wednesday, February 1, 2017 Place: Faith Church
325 N. Emporia, Valley Center, KS 67017

Burial

Place: Green Valley Cemetery
Furley, Kansas

Memorials

Palmyra Baptist Church
999 NW Butler Ave.
Benton, KS 67017

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