Loretta
Neumann Miller
Obituary for Loretta Marie Miller
Loretta Marie Miller
(12/12/27 – 11/22/14)
Our dear mother passed away in her sleep just a few weeks short of her
eighty-seventh birthday. She had spent the preceding days and nights surrounded
by family and friends.
Loretta Marie Neumann was born in Camden, New Jersey, the first child of Ernest
and Marie Neumann. During the Depression, the family moved to many locations on
the East Coast as her father relocated for work. When they came back to Camden,
Loretta met Joe Miller. They married after he returned from serving in World War
II, and the couple had four children.
For most of the 50s and 60s, Loretta worked as a stay-at-home mother and
homemaker. We will always remember her as tirelessly loving and giving. The
Miller family moved several times (to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, New
York), but she always managed to handle the changes with grace and even an
appetite for the adventure of it.
A woman of amazing drive and talent, Loretta seemed to excel at everything she
put her hands to. She was a master seamstress, sewing everything from prom
dresses to hundreds of costumes for children’s dance recitals. She also liked to
knit, crochet, and embroider. Later she mastered macramé and stained glass
making. She was also a good cook, baker, and candy maker.
After her children were grown, Loretta went to college and obtained a degree in
English. She loved to write short stories and memoir pieces. She also had a
life-long passion for music and played the piano and organ. In her fifties,
Loretta became a music educator and taught hundreds of children and adults in
the San Jose and Denver areas.
Loretta and Joe Miller moved to the Baywood Court Retirement Community in 2005,
where they made many friends and she served as the editor of the newsletter. Joe
passed away in 2008.
Loretta is survived by sons Ken and Joe, daughters Judith Miller and Susan
Silva, son-in-law Armando Silva, daughters-in-law Pam Brandau and Barbara
Miller, 6 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. She also leaves her sister
Joan Lowrey, brother Edward Neumann, and their families, and many close friends
at Baywood. The family would especially like to thank Barbara Garcia and
Charlotte Paisley-Smith, who took wonderful care of our mother in her final
months.
Services were private. A reception for friends at Baywood is planned for January
2015.
Loretta with
daughter in law Barbara Miller.
12/2008
Loretta (center in green) with other Miller
family members.
